Aliens vs Pokemon
by HelloMyNameIsEd
Summary: Ash and friends go on a boat to Cinnabar Island, only to be shipwrecked. When a hostile inhabitant takes Misty, Ash,Brock, Pikachu and their new friend must save her! But hunters also prowl the island... Rated M for gore and language in later chapters. EDIT: This story is my first one, and it's not very good. Please excuse the initially shoddy writing.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Okay, so I was rereading these chapters, and I noticed that they progressively change throughout the story. I didn't really like that, so I went ahead and began to rewrite this chapter. I may rewrite some other ones later, until I feel that they come out right. The general idea is the same, so don't worry about having to reread the story chapters.**

***Somewhere in the Kanto region***

There are man men working in a mine. Many are operating heavy machinery, such as drills and carts. The mine is very far underground, but only far enough to extract the coal and other minerals of value. Thick coal veins could be seen, and were extracted via heavy machinery. The entire tunnel was alight with the fluorescent white lightbulbs, giving off a ghostly glow and bathing the workers in an eerie white light. The mine shaft was hot, and the men occasionally wiped their brows with a handkerchief they were equipped with.

After working for some time, a bell rings, and the workers are let off from work. The machines are turned off, and the men all get off their respective work stations. They all begin to walk towards the entrance of the cave, where they would then get to walking towards the station, where a jeep would transport several of them to the eating area, and then, their living quarters.

2 men, however, stayed. One finally manages to turn off the drill he was working, and then wipes the sweat from his forehead using his rag.

"Phew! This stuff is pretty complex. It's not easy workin' this thing" said the man. His name tag read "Paul".

"Oh, it can't be that hard," said the second man, whose name tag read "Edward". "All you've got to do is pull levers 'n stuff."

"Whatever. We should probably get going now" said Paul, getting off the drill.

The two men began their walk towards the cave entrance, but Edward stopped suddenly.

"Wait!" he said. Paul stopped, and turned to look at him. "I forgot my music player in the back there!"

Paul sighed, and said, "I told you this would happen; you'd lose your music player inside a freaking mine. Only you, Ed."

Edward looked at him pleadingly, and said, "I don't want to go in there alone; I don't feel very safe."

Paul scratched his head; the first week on the job was always the hardest, in his opinion. He sighed, and began to walk down the tunnel, with Edward walking right behind him. They walked back to their stations, and looked around.

"Actually, it was further down the tunnel where I left it," said Edward, giving Paul a sheepish grin. Paul only glared at him a moment, but he continued down, at a slightly faster pace; he didn't want to get left behind in here.

Suddenly, further down the tunnel, a shiny object caught their eye.

"There! On those rocks!" said Ed, pointing. Surely enough, there was an mp3 player on the rocks.

Ed started walking forwards, towards the rocks, not noticing the rocks that he was going to trip on. Edward stumbled, and stepped on a weakened section of the tunnel floor, which broke away, and led down to a hole.

Edward fell down a hole, yelling in fear as he fell. He hit a slope, and began to roll down it, letting out grunts of pain every time a sharp rock dug into his skin. The slope itself was very large, and long, meaning that Edward was rolling for a good while before he could stop, unmoving.

"Ed! You alright down there?" Paul yelled down. Edward wasn't moving. Paul got very worried, and was going to go down there himself, but saw him start to get up.

"Ugh, great" Edward began ranting. "First week on the job and I already have an accident." He had gotten several scrapes and bruises from the fall, but it would have been worse if he had not chosen to do a barrel roll as he did.

"Who put that hole there anwa-" he stopped talking mid-sentence to gaze at the strange form in front of him several yards away. He scrambled to his feet, took out his flashlight, and flipped the switch. The light emanating from his flashlight dimly lit the area, being focused on one section as flashlights are meant to do, but it as enough for the miner to see the large black structure in front of him.

"Paul!" Edward shouted up. "Get down here! You've _got_ to see this!"

"Ed," Paul said, "we've got to get you to the infirmary or something, are you hurt?"

"I said get down here! Quick!" Edward said.

Paul finally relented, and climbed down, if only to grab his friend and go. But he, too, was taken back by what Ed was looking at. Ed smiled in admiration, while Paul gaped in awe.

"What is that thing?" asked Paul while still gazing at the hidden underground structure.

"I frankly have no idea," said Ed. "Let's see how it is on the inside!" he said.

"Wait, we need to get back! We'll come back some other time, how about that?"

Edward didn't listen, and kept walking. Paul follow him closely, finding it to be useless to try to talk his friend out of it. With that, both men approached the strange structure and inspected it closely.

There were a set of double doors, but they weren't normal; the doors were extremely tall, and there were 2 equally tall statues of humanlike creatures holding spears standing guard at either side of the doors. The building, however, was strange by itself as well. It took on various different styles of ancient architectures. None of them were archaeologists, or knew about ancient architecture as well as a professor would, but if they had to guess, it looked kind of like an Aztec temple mixed with an Egyptian Pyramid, and various other styles as well. All in all, it was a very complex structure that didn't belong to one civilization that either men could think of.

"How old do you think it is?" began Paul, "Ten thousand? One hundred thousand?"

"I don't care, I just want to see it from inside" replied Ed.

With that, he began to try and pry open the doors with this bare hands, softer at first, then with more force, still with no avail.

"Come…on…you…stupid…door!" he grunted as he kept trying to pry it open with his bare hands. Paul, further investigating the building, found a sort of secret lever. He pulled it down, but it stayed put. He stuck his crowbar into the hole next to the base of the lever and pushed on the crowbar. The crowbar produced just enough force to break the rusted casing that had formed over the lever. He then pulled it again, and the lever went down cleanly.

There was a series of clanking sounds coming from within the building, and finally, the doors opened.

"Oh, good job" said Ed as he looked in the Pyramid. Both men walked in and looked around. There were hieroglyphics that the 2 men did not understand, but the pictures on the walls they saw were frightening nevertheless. There were some creepy humanoid figures, which seemed similar to the statues outside, killing strange, alien looking creatures. There were also several humans kneeling before the humanoid creatures, as if they were worshipping them like gods.

"What are those things, marveled Ed.

"Whatever they are, they're not human" responded Paul.

Then, they heard the sound of someone stepping on the floor behind them.

"Who's there?" asked Paul, turning around. Ed turned as well, and they were surprised to see one of their co-workers, Kenny.

"Kenny, what are you doing here?" asked Ed.

"I was going to call you guys to go up to the station, but apparently, you guys have plans of your own. Where are we? What is this place?" asked Kenny.

"I honestly don't know," said Ed, "but I think it's some sort of temple of pyramid."

"Look, another door!" said Paul, pointing at another door further inside. The 3 men walked towards the door, and inspected it. They found no handle, so Paul pried open the door with the crowbar, and the door easily opened. There was a sign next to the door, but it was written in an ancient language that none of the three men understood. The three walked in, unaware of the danger to come. If they had been able to read the sign, it would have read "SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER".

The men entered the room, and looked around. There were 6 pedestals that looked like the bed you sit in at the doctor, but they were arranged in a circle.

"I wonder what they used this room fo-"began Paul, but the doors behind them closed shut. All three men turned around, and Paul ran up to it and tried to ope it, but it was futile; the door was locked shut, and the three men were trapped inside. Paul took out his crowbar again and started working the door.

"Don't worry guys. I'll get s out of here in time for dinner" said Paul.

"Oh yeah I forgot that today is Sloppy Joe Monday" said Kenny.

"Today is Sloppy Joe Monday?" shouted Ed. "Hurry Paul! I must get to the Sloppy Joes!" he shouted into Paul's ear.

After recoiling from the shout, Paul said, "Calm down, man. Sheesh!"

Then, Kenny began inspecting the weird round objects he found at the side of each pedestal. They looked to be leathery in texture, and looked remarkably similar to large chicken's eggs, with the exception of them being a dull brown color and having creases along the top. He touched one of the egg-shaped objects, and it slowly began to open. He quickly recoiled from the touch and watched the "egg" hatch.

Ed heard the sound of the hatching egg and turned around. Slowly, but surely, a small, spider-like creature crawled out of the egg. It was fleshy, and pale, with eight finger-like legs on each side. It had no eyes that they could se, and had a lone tail at its end, which waggled slightly behind it.

Paul turned around to see the spider creature, and asked, "What _IS_ that thing?"

"I don't know," said Kenny, but it looks kinda-" he began, but was abruptly stopped in mid-sentence as the spider creature jumped up onto Kenny and latched onto his face.

Kenny screamed, but it was muffled b the creature on his face. While it held on using its finger-like legs, its tail wrapped around Kenny's neck, blocking the air going into his lungs, which made him fall unconscious on the floor. Paul and Ed both gasped at the sight.

Paul yelled: "Oh my god he killed Ken-", but a second and third egg had opened, and one of the creatures jumped onto Paul's face as well and latched on. As Edward watched his friends go down, he looked back at the third creature, ready to pounce. Ed screamed for his life, but was quickly silenced by the body of the creature jumping onto his face. The 3 men were never heard from again.

Unbeknownst to the men, they had just begun a chain of events that would lead to a time of great fear, death, and bloodshed.


	2. Chapter 2: Dark Skies and Darker Waters

**Okay, so this makes take two at chapter 2. Same thing here, same general idea, just a few fixes here and there.**

It was a fine day today. The sun was shining, the Pidgeys were chirping, and the whole Kanto region seemed to be energized today. This was the case for Ash, as he happily walked down the road with his Pikachu on his shoulder. He also travelled with his two friends, Misty and Brock.

"Man, I feel great today! It hasn't been this sunny for a while!" he said. Pikachu smiled and said, "Pika!" Misty was enjoying the sun as well, because it had been raining a lot recently. Brock was reading his map, leading the trio to their next destination.

Then, Brock said, "Ok, so we should be coming up to a town soon enough," and as they went over the last hill, they saw the town nearby, next to the ocean.

"Well, this must be it" said Ash.

"Great, let's go!" said Misty, and the three picked up the pace to get to the town quickly.

…

The three trainers reached the town, and they looked around. Everyone seemed to be dreary, instead of happy from the bright weather. Ash wondered why they were all gloomy; the weather here was finally clear, they should be happy for a change. He did not notice as Pikachu sniffed the air, smelling something disturbing. They came across a market square, and they saw a lot of people, all selling different things, advertising their products, and so on. They looked at all the fruits and vegetables, while Brock admired the ladies in the vicinity. The three thought that the sights were all nice, and there was no reason for anyone to be dreary here. That is, until they saw a big gray factory that did not blend in with the surroundings. It looked out of place, and the worst part was that it spewed green-black fumes into the air.

"What is that factory doing here?" asked Brock. "I heard that this town was a mining town" he said.

"It was, until there was an accident" said a strange voice behind them. The three turned around to see a man standing there with a frown on his face.

"This town used to make profit from the coal mine on a nearby island, but then there was an accident," he said.

"What happened?" asked Misty.

"Three men were killed by unknown creatures, and the island was deemed unsafe. There were no more details because the government prevented anybody from entering the island anymore, and they covered everything up pretty well. Now the town resorted to factories to make profit, and the Pokémon in the area left from the gathering pollution."

"That's so sad" said Ash. He knew there was a reason why the people of his town weren't happy, it was because the factory drove off all the Pokémon and spewed black fumes into the sky.

"Well, there's not much we can do about it, really. Just keep walking forwards with your chin up, and with high hopes!" said the man.

"I guess you're right," said Ash. "Well, let's get moving; we need to get going."

The three kept going until they reached a Pokémart and Pokémon Center.

"Ok guys, let's resupply and heal our Pokémon here" said Ash. They three went and healed their Pokémon in the Pokémon center and bought Potions and other things to heal their Pokémon on the field.

As they finished, Misty asked, "Ash, why did we come here again?"

Ash turned to her and said, "Because we wanted to go to Cinnabar Island. I hear that they've got great beaches and a Gym too!"

"Ok then" said Misty, "but how're we gonna get there?" she asked.

"I hear that there's a ferry that takes people from here to Cinnabar." said Brock.

"Okay then, let's go!" said Ash, and the three took off for the ferry.

…

The three ran to the coast of the island to a large pier, and there they saw a small ferry that looked like it could not hold too many people.

"Hello there" said the man in charge of the ferry rides. "Would you like to ride on the ferry?" he asked.

"Yes, does this ferry go to Cinnabar Island?" asked Brock.

"Why certainly! Just hop on the ferry and I'll get you there in a jiffy," he said.

"Thanks, mister" said Misty. The man allowed the three onto the ferry, and he rolled up the rope that held the ferry to the pier. Then, he got to the front of the boat and manned the ferry. He adjusted the setting of the boat, and with the pull of the lever, the engine sprang to life, growling as the mechanics inside the boat did their job. Finally, the captain pushed on the pedal, and the water behind the ferry turned into white foam as the boat was propelled forwards into the blue ocean in front of them. The Captain had done everything correctly what a real sea Captain would do. However, he forgot to do one thing, which may be one of the most important ones: he did not check the weather conditions, and failed to know of the incoming storm that they were driving into.

…

A while later, the waters that the group was travelling over went from calm to choppy. There were small waves pounding the boat, but they got increasingly stronger and bigger. As clouds covered the sky above them, the sky went from a light blue to a darker gray shade that made the sky look menacing. Then, little droplets of rain fell from the sky, but the roof on the ferry protected them from the rain. These were all little facts that they noticed, but did not heed their warning. They finally began to suspect something when winds began to whistle past the boat, like dreary ghosts lost at sea.

Then, the rain got stronger, and the captain simply said, "Looks like a storm is brewing". However, the waves began getting bigger, and some salty sea water hit Ash on his shoulder.

"Are you sure it's safe to be out here now?" said Ash.

"Don't worry we'll be there in about half an hour. Besides, the waves are just a little choppy, no big deal!" he said with a reassuring grin. However, then, a bigger wave came next to the boat and hit it, rocking the boat a considerable amount. "Okay, maybe a little more than just a bit choppy, but don't worry! I have everything under control!" he said, with a hint of doubt in his voice.

Then, the worst began to unfold: the rain went from a slight shower to a heavy rainstorm, and the sea began to brew much larger waves, and the ship rocked back and forth repeatedly and made jumps from crossing big waves.

"Ok guys, we might be in a little trouble here. It seems that we have a very minor case of a heavy rainstorm. Don't feel alarmed, but if you do, then, try to hold onto that feeling, because that is how you should feel when you've been told that you are in the middle of a powerful storm in the middle of the ocean."

More waves pounded into them, and they were all thrown about. Water splashed over the side of the boat, and they each gave cries of surprise as the shockingly cold water splashed them from all sides. They were soaked enough, they may as well had gone swimming beforehand.

"You need to stop this boat, or pull over, _something!_" shouted Ash.

"You don't just pull over a boat in the middle of the ocean, Ash," said Brock.

"You know what I mean!" Ash shouted back.

The boat ran through yet another wave. The bow of the ship tore through the water, and the salty stuff soaked everyone. Not one article of clothing was left untouched, very notably so. The boat would surely capsize if they ran into more waves.

"If I stop the ship, then _they'll_ start to slam into _us_!" said the captain. Another wave swept through them, water logging the entire boat's occupants. They all sputtered and coughed as the salty taste of the ocean water filled their mouths.

"What difference would it make? That what they're doing right now!" Ash coughed out.

Suddenly, a large wave came up, and took them by surprise. The group saw it coming, and the Captain said, "HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" and, in a watery explosion, the wave crashed upon the small ferry, but Ash and his friends were holding onto the rails at the sides of the ferry. The Captain tried to hold onto a steel beam on the boat, but his hand slipped, and he flew forwards and hit his stomach on a mechanism on the boat. He fell forwards on his stomach, and tried to get up, grunting in pain, but it was too much for him, and he just stayed on the floor.

"Are you okay?" yelled Brock, seeing that the Captain was hurt. Just then, an even bigger wave formed in front of the small ferry. The wave caused a shadow to fall upon the ferry, and Ash, Misty, and Brock gasped in horror, while Pikachu scrambled to hide under Ash's shirt. The Captain saw the shadow falling upon the ship, and he turned his head.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw the monstrous wave make its way towards them, and said, "WOAH, WHAT THE F-" and right there, the wave hit the ship, completely engulfing the little ferry with water. The ferry sank, and the group was sent to different directions.

The sea was much worse than the water that splashed onto them when they were still on the boat. It was much colder, given the added wind, and having his body submerged in it. All of them cried in surprise as each wave hit them, threatening to take them under. The boat, what little was left of it, was barely visible from behind the constant waves. They called out cries for help, trying to see if they could catch the attention of another vessel that might be going around the area. If there had been one, the crew would not have been able to hear them anyways, given the howling winds and the giant waves.

Ash struggled to keep his head over the water, but each wave was like a liquid battering ram, with enough force to drive out all the air from his lungs. He finally succumbed to the overwhelming power of the waves. His head sank under the water, and he slowly began losing oxygen. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Misty's hand reaching out for his


	3. Chapter 3: Crash Landing and Storytime

"Ash…wake up…" pleaded Misty as she kneeled over Ash's unconscious body.

"Don't worry, Misty. I checked his pulse, he'll be fine" said Brock, who was tending to Pikachu, who was a bit shaken. All of them were soaking wet, but they were all alive and healthy, except for Ash, who was still unconscious. Then, Ash's eyes slowly fluttered open, and Misty sighed in relief, as she went to his side and comforted him.

"Ugh…my head…" he said, while rubbing the back of his head.

"Ash, are you alright?" asked Misty, supporting him so he could sit up correctly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Where's Pikachu?" he asked. Pikachu immediately bounded to his side, and said "Pika Pi!"

Ash smiled and said, "I'm glad you're okay too, buddy!" He began to scratch Pikachu on the head.

"Where's the Captain?" asked Ash. He scanned the area, but didn't see the Captain, or the ship.

"I'm sorry Ash, but we're all alone here. The Captain is gone" said Brock in a solemn voice.

They all remained silent for a moment, and then Ash spoke, saying, "Where are we, anyways?"

Brock shrugged, and said, "I don't know, there aren't any islands where we could have landed; the map says that the route we were taking to Cinnabar didn't have any nearby islands."

"So, we're just…stranded? On a deserted island?" asked Misty, with a voice of worry.

"Don't worry, it might not be deserted. Maybe there is a town or a village nearby us that we can go to" said Brock.

"I sure hope so" said Misty before they all got up and began walking. At first, they were walking through fairly dense jungle, before they met the tree line. There, they found an actual road.

"Look! A road! Maybe it leads to a town!" said Misty, and the others simply followed. They followed the road, and saw that the road was in very bad condition, as if it had not been taken care of for years. Ash noticed this, and noticed a few other eerie details as well. For instance, there were no Pokémon at all. In fact, they had not seen any other forms of life besides themselves ever since they landed. Normally, you would see plenty of flying Pokémon, and occasionally, a forest Pokémon would peek out of the bushes every now and then. But now, not a single peep was heard from any Pokémon, except Pikachu who just kept trio kept walking, and walking, and walking…They were all getting tired just from walking what seemed to be miles.

"Ugh…why is this road so long?" moaned Ash, who was now holding Pikachu, who became too tired to keep up.

"Don't worry, guys, this road is bound to end at some point" said Brock, who was just as visibly tired as well.

Suddenly, Misty's eyes widened, and she pointed to the distance, and said, "Look! Over there!" Ash and Brock quickly turned to see what she was pointing at, and in doing so, Ash dropped Pikachu on the floor, who gave out a loud, slightly annoyed, "Pika!" The three looked into the distance, and saw a building.

"A building! Finally!" said Ash as they all began running towards the building in the distance, Pikachu keeping closely behind. As they approached the building, they saw that it was large, and was made of steel. There were a large set of double doors in front, but they seemed to be just as old and ill-maintained as the road that they walked earlier. However, there was a big detail that everyone failed to miss. There were a series of large slashes going across the doors, and they were very deep as well. Ash looked above the doors and saw a sign. It was faded away and old, but he could read the red letters, but just barely. It read, "Lunchroom". Ash slowly walked up to the door, and tried to pry it open, but to no avail.

"The door is locked," said Ash.

"Maybe nobody's inside" said Brock.

"Or maybe it's locked shut to keep out…whatever tried to break in" said Misty, running her fingers over the gashes, which were surprisingly deep, deeper than any claw, or even a knife, could cut.

"Maybe, if I knock…" said Ash to himself, as he leaned forwards towards the door. He put his hand into a fist, and slowly knocked on the door. The door made a metallic knocking sound, but nobody came.

"Try knocking harder" said Brock. With that, Ash put more force behind his hand, and knocked on the door harder. The resulting knocks echoed through the inside of the lunchroom. A brief moment passed, and yet nobody came out.

"Well, I guess nobody's home" said Brock.

The three turned around and were about to leave, but they were stopped by the sound of a door opening. They turned around and saw the door behind them slightly open.

Then, they heard the voice of a man, who said, "Who's there?"

The three immediately ran towards the door, and Ash said, "It's us! We're here!" Then, the man brought his head back inside, and with a few clicks scrapes, he unlocked the various locks on the door. The three were beginning to smile, but when the door opened all the way, their faces turned from one of relief to one of fear as they met face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"Put your hands up where I can see them" he said. With that, the three shot their hands into the air, including Pikachu, who put his paws into the air.

"Who are you people?" asked the man. Ash looked at his friends with a look of fear, and looked back at the man.

"Well? Answer me!" he demanded, tightening his grip on the gun.

Finally, with a gulp, Ash croaked, "I-I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town." Then Ash signaled to his friends, saying, "These are my-"

"I'm very certain your friends can speak, can't they?" the man said.

Then, Misty spoke up, saying, "I'm Misty, the Cerulean city Gym Leader."

Brock said, "I'm Brock, I'm working to be a Pokémon breeder" with a hint of fear in his voice as well.

"Where are you all from?" asked the man. "We're from the Kanto mainland" said Ash. "We were travelling to Cinnabar Island on a boat, but we got caught in a big sea storm and ended up here"

The man lowered his rifle, and scratched his chin, and finally said, "Alright, you're not any danger to me, so I guess you can come inside.

The man walked back inside, and the three walked through the door. Upon entering the inside of the building, the trio immediately saw that the inside of this building was…moderately better maintained than basically everything else they had seen. The man had obviously been here for a while.

"Now, you three wait here. I'm gonna reset the lock on the door" said the man. With that, he turned around and closed the door again. He then reset the locks-all four of them-and put his gun down on a nearby wooden table. The gun was black in color- or better said, _was_ black- because the paint was mostly worn out. It was stocky in shape, being similarly related in form to a Thompson submachine gun, except for the under-barrel pump and the electronic LED ammo counter on the side of the gun. The ammo counter read "95" in red numbers.

After the man had finished locking the doors, he turned to the kids and asked, "What are you all doing here?" while taking a seat next to his gun. The three stared at the gun in fear, and nobody wanted to talk. The man looked at the gun, and chuckled.

"Don't worry kids. I'm not gonna shoot ya" he said. "I just like to keep it close to me in case we have any…unwanted visitors". The way the man said "unwanted visitors" got Ash thinking about what Pokémon could have caused the claw marks.

"Well, for starters," began Brock, "we were heading to Cinnabar Island by boat when we got caught in this storm. The ship got hit by a big wave, and we were all sent overboard."

"Cinnabar Island, eh?" said the man, scratching his chin. "Well, sorry to break it to ya, but we're _miles_ from that tourist attraction now" he said.

"Wait, what?" all of them said.

"Miles? But how? We weren't that far away when the big storm hit!" said Ash, still in shock.

"Well, what can I say? The ocean's currents are tricky in their ways" said the man. All of them got sighed, for they saw no hope in getting back home.

"So, I guess…we're stuck here then" said Misty, with a frown.

"Pretty much. I've been here for a pretty long time, and haven't been able to get back home yet" he said. "But don't worry; living here really isn't that bad. Unless, of course, you count the neighbors" he said.

"Neighbors? What neighbors?" asked Ash. "Well, they're kinda like big bugs. I mean _really_ big bugs. Human big. Bigger, even!" he said.

"What are they?" asked Ash.

"They're called Xenomorphs. At least, that's what the techies called 'em. They come in all shapes and sizes, but nevertheless, they're all dangerous. They're as black as black can be, which makes them perfect for hiding in dark places. They preferably like to ambush prey instead of attacking head-on, but either way, they'll kill you. Inside their mouths they have a second set of jaws on the tip of their tongues which they use to pierce through your skull and brain. They've got hard body armor covering their entire bodies which can resist small bullets and heavy blunt attacks. They've also got wicked long claws that can cut through steel and have acid for blood. They've got a really long tail with a wicked blade at the end that they can wield easily. However, there's one feature that will probably scare you most."

Ash imagined the creature, and easily found it terrifying in his mind. If those details weren't enough description, he wondered what could be even scarier.

"What would that be?" he asked.

"They have no eyes, yet they always know where you are. You can't see them, but they can see you. They will always know where you are. Whether it's behind a wall or even behind several feet of vegetation, they will track you down and find you" he said, "No camouflage can save you".

All three of them stood wide-eyed, taking in all the details they had just heard. They were all terrified of the mere description of the creature itself, yet they hadn't even seen it yet.

"Don't worry, though. As long as you stick near me, or near this building, you should be moderately safe from them. They haven't broken in here yet, and they're not about to any time soon" said the man. The man then got up, and said, "Follow me". With that, he started walking into another room, and the three kids followed him.

He led them into another room, and said, "This is where you three will be bunking." They all looked around, and saw no beds.

The man left, and Misty said, "How are we supposed to sleep here, there are no beds." Right then, the man came back with 3 pillows, and a set of blankets.

"Sorry if you don't find it too comfortable, but this isn't exactly a hotel" he said. He then handed them their blankets and pillows, and said, "Well, it's getting dark out. Best get some shut-eye for tomorrow. Living life here is a bit harder than normal". With that, he went back trough the doorway from where he came.

"Wait!" said Ash. The man turned his head. "What?" he asked. "I still don't know _your_ name" said Ash. "The man chuckled to himself, and said, "You can call me Mundy. Jack Mundy"


	4. Chapter 4: Stalking Shadows

**Ok, so here we go! My 4th chapter in the series. I'm sorry If I kept you guys waiting, but I was kinda doing other...stuff...anyways, here it is! Chapter 4 of Aliens vs Pokemon. Here, I decided to change up the perspective of the story, and showing a bit of history to the island, but not giving it ALL away, for suspension purposes. Well, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon OR Aliens vs Predator. If I did, then this would be a movie.**

Ash and his friends began setting up their "room" for the night. They were still depressed at the fact that they may never get back home, but at least they could have a rest. The crash landing at the beach and the walk all the way inland had left them fatigued and soaked to the bone. Their clothes had dried in the sun while walking here, but they were still cold from being exposed to the wind after being in the water. Overall, even if this wasn't exactly a luxury bed, it was a bed, nonetheless, and they were all happy that at least they could finally rest. However, as the trio and Mr. Mundy went to rest, they were all completely unaware that they were being watched by the very creatures they feared…

The island had been inhabited by the Xenomorphs for a while now. As soon as they made it into the surface, they wreaked havoc upon the human facilities on the island, and exterminated the inhabitants, both human and Pokémon alike. The Pokémon all had their own defense mechanisms, perfect for deterring other Pokémon threats. However, they had never seen this sort of creature in the island. The island invaders were extremely versatile creatures, their mobility unmatched by any Pokémon. The forest Pokémon could not run away. The water Pokémon were not safe in their lakes or rivers. Even the flying Pokémon could not escape the invading species. All the Pokémon in the island were forced to either survive, which was impossible due to the ravenous nature of these monsters and their ability to adapt to almost any environment, or to leave, which was a viable option that was taken by many water and flying Pokémon that weren't hunted down first. The forests Pokémon, however, were quickly wiped out.

The Pokémon on the island were the first to be exterminated. The humans were next. Since the Pokémon would put up less of a fight, they went after them first. However, when the Pokémon were all wiped out, then the Xenomorphs went after the humans. They invaded the structures and facilities, and regardless of how tight security was, there would always be human casualties, and if they fought off the first wave, another was sure to follow. And then another one, and another one, and another one. If one Xenomorph was shot down, 5 more would replace it, like the Hydra from Greek legend. They just wouldn't stop coming. No matter what human force was present against the Xenomorphs, the creatures would defeat them by any means, whether it is by brute force, strategy, or sheer numbers. Eventually, the humans sent a distress signal for help, but it was already too late for them now. The Xenomorphs were too widespread, too powerful to be stopped by any force sent to help the doomed survivors on the island.

It had been a while now since they had forced out or hunted all the Pokémon and humans from this side of the island. The Xenomorphs could not find much food in their area, and they were increasingly having the need to find food. Finally, a Xenomorph scout had finally found a small human structure, relatively close to the Hive, and it had signs of life forms within it. However, they were armed, and the structure was made of steel, and not even a Xenomorph could break into there. Alone, anyways… The Xenomorph snarled at the structure, and then turned around, returning to the Hive, to tell the others about the structure and the life forms within it, and to formulate a plan to break in…

**Ooh, a cliffhanger! Let's see what the Xenomorph's master plan is, and how the gang will handle the situation. Stay tuned for the next chaper!**


	5. Chapter 5: Attack

**Well guys, sorry to keep you waiting, but I am the best at procrastinating. And by "best", I mean worst. Sorry! Anyways, here's part 5 of the story. Hope you enjoy!**

**Warning: some Alien gore is in this chapter**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the aliens, or the Pokémon characters, but I do own Jack, the OC.**

Living on the island wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it was manageable for the three young adventurers. There were many liberties that they had that they didn't have before, such as being able to sleep at whichever time they wanted. However, they did live under almost constant fear of the "neighbors". According to Jack, or Mr. Mundy, whose first name was revealed to them later on, first by seeing that his gun had his name on it, and later by his own words, as long as they stayed close to the shack, they would be fine. But nevertheless, they had to be careful. Jack had apparently not used the gun very often, because he still had loads of ammunition stored in a back room of the shack. Either that or he was a good shot that only needed a few rounds.

Since Jack started living with them, he had made up a set of "rules" for them to follow. They weren't very complicated, and were straight to the point: 1) Stay close to the shack, 2) always go in groups, 3) NEVER go into the deep jungle, and 4) ALWAYS carry a weapon. Despite them never actually having SEEN one of these hellish creatures, they always kept their guards up. However, despite them knowing all the "rules" of living on the island, Jack still pressured them all to learn how to use a gun. Ash had never touched a gun, let alone shot one. And he was pretty sure that none of his friends had either. "I won't always be there to save your butts if there's any trouble, so learning to fight is key in surviving on _this_ island" is what Jack would say, meaning that if they wanted to survive, or at least increase their chances, they would have to learn to shoot a gun. Jack had a small stockpile of weapons with him, including a variety of different pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, and a sniper rifle as well.

Jack's personal favorites were his M41A/2 Rifle, the Sniper Rifle, and his own unique personal weapon: a large Bowie Knife, the blade being 1 foot long, and the handle that looked like a single brass knuckle attached to the "special blade". The reason it was called special was because it was different from normal metal. Jack said it was an alien metal that they had discovered a while ago, which had different, unique properties. The blade would be much stronger and longer-lasting than a normal knife. Jack said that it's "still as sharp as the first time I saw it". Ash and his friends still haven't fired a bullet yet during their time in the island, but what they didn't know was that they would shoot their first shot in their lives, and many more, soon enough. You can't always live a life of tranquility and peace, especially on _this_ island…

The Xenomorphs had gathered up a hunting group to capture the new life forms inside the large human structure. They had begun the trek from the hive to the new structure. They walked through jungle for a while, which would have taken longer for any other creature, given their unmatched maneuverability, and finally, the hunting leader stopped at the jungle's edge, and looked across a clearing. In the distance, there was a large, metallic looking human structure that was surrounded by bits of trees at either side and was against a large rock wall. Upon further inspection, the leader found 2 smaller humans under a tree, picking at the fruit on it. Those two would be the first targets, then the last two humans inside the structure. This but first, the hunting party waits in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike…

Ash and Misty had gone out of the shack to look for some berry trees. Sure enough, there was a large fruit-bearing tree that had plenty of fruit to pick and take back to the shack. They were taking their time, not knowing of the danger that they were in. "Ash, we shouldn't be out here too long. I don't feel safe being this far from the shack, even with Pikachu with us" said Misty, looking around to see if she could scope out any potential dangers. "Don't worry. Even those things won't be able to take a thunderbolt, right Pikachu?" Pikachu gave a reassuring "Pika!" even though he was also afraid that they were being watched. Then, as Pikachu was scanning the surrounding tree line, he noticed an odd shape inside the shadows. It looked black as the night, and was very large. He could not see any details, but he knew that this creature was one of the hostiles that Jack had told them about. He had to warn Ash and Misty.

Pikachu began poking Misty's leg to get her attention, and she turned around to Pikachu. "Pikachu, what's wrong?" she asked. Pikachu began to frantically point at the edge of the tree line where he saw the creature, and Misty turned around to see it. She could not see anything, but she began getting worried. "Ash" she said, turning to him, picking some more fruit, "I'm getting worried. I think Pikachu saw something". "Really?" he said, and then he turned around, looking to see if he could find whatever it was that was scaring Pikachu and Misty. Just as he was going to turn around to announce that he could not see it, he saw something that frightened him. There was a black head coming out of the trees! It was not just normal black, it was black as the night sky itself, and it was long and oblong, almost like an upside-down banana. It bared the silvery teeth inside its mouth, contrasting strongly against its black body. However, the detail that scared him most was its face: he could not make out any facial details at all, even eyes. The creature had no eyes, yet it was _staring_ _right at him_.

The creature lifted a four-fingered hand with sharp, black claws at the tips and pushed a fern aside from its face. Ash, Misty, and Pikachu all stared in horror at the creature. Then the creatures attacked. The attack came from all sides, left, right, and in front of them. 9 sleek, black bodies erupting from the jungle with frighteningly accurate coordination. Then they all jumped at them, letting out ear-piercing shrieks that sounded like they came from creatures from the depths of hell itself. Neither Ash nor Misty ran, their human instincts too slow to react. Then, everything was enveloped in a bright white flash. Misty and Ash covered their eyes, and when they opened them again, they saw the 9 creatures being covered in a yellow electric field, which stopped them altogether from attacking. Ash looked at Pikachu, who was also covered in an electric aura, but he wasn't getting hurt, because he was resistant to electricity.

When Pikachu let go of the charge, the 9 creatures all fell in unison, small traces of yellow electricity still flowing through their bodies. Ash picked up Pikachu while Misty held the fruit basket in hand and they all began running as if their lives depended on it, mostly because, their lives _did_ depend on it. When they were not even ten yards away, the electricity's effects on the creatures began wearing off, and the paralysis began to fade. As Ash, Misty, and Pikachu kept running farther, Ash turned his head as he as running, and saw one of the creatures began to get up. They were a very good distance from the creatures when they finally recovered from the attack, but it was still not far enough. The creatures all got up again, and gave chase to the two humans and the small creature that had attacked them.

Ash kept running, and so did Misty and Pikachu. However, as they got closer to the shack, Ash heard various feet hitting the floor behind them. He turned around again and saw that the creatures were behind them. They were not too far, and they were quickly closing the distance. Ash madly pumped his arms, hoping that it would help him run faster. Finally, they came within viewing distance of the shack. They were so close, but then again, so were the creatures. Ash began to run even faster than before, and so did Misty and Pikachu. But then, tragedy struck; Ash tripped on a small rock, not noticing it on the floor while he was running. _"This is it. I'm going to die now"_ thought Ash as he fell to the floor. He didn't even bother to try and get up. But then, the shack's door swung open, and there in the doorway stood Jack, with pulse rifle in hand, aiming it at the creatures that threatened their lives.

Jack took only a second to aim before his killer instincts kicked in, and fired his pulse rifle at the alien closest to Ash. Bullets flew close over Ash's head, none of them touching him, but all of them hitting dead on their mark, and the Alien collapsed as the bullets riddled his body. The Aliens were slightly stunned by the sudden firing, and while they were confused, Misty ran towards Ash and helped him back up. The Aliens, however, regained their senses extremely quickly, and charged again. Jack kept firing his pulse rifle, and the Aliens all just kept coming. He kept shooting, and killed two more of the aliens. Seeing that they were quickly losing numbers, they decided to hide inside of the surrounding jungle. They quickly sprinted into the dense jungle surrounding the shack, and one more alien was killed while retreating.

However, Jack wasn't going after them. He decided to play it safe, and slowly backed up into the shack, signaling for Ash and Misty to get inside the house. They quickly hurried inside the shack, while Jack backed up into the doorway. He quickly put down his pulse rifle and began locking the door. He locked all the locks on the door (there were several, including a steel reinforcement on the door as well) and backed up. There were no windows, so that was not a problem to barricade, but they were still in danger. The shack wasn't impenetrable, so Jack knew that until they were dead or gone, he would not let his guard down. "Ok, we're safe for now. But until I see them leave, or dead, I want all of you to grab a gun and keep it with you at all times. And also, do _not_ _go outside!_" he said.

He got 3 pistols and gave it to the three trainers, and they reluctantly took them, because even though they were afraid to shoot a gun, and were against killing, they decided that they wanted to live instead of die a horrible death at the hands, or rather, claws, of those…creatures. They all got ammunition and loaded the pistols. The pistol was small compared to the other guns, but it would provide somewhat protection against those things that threatened their lives. However, they did not know that they were still in grave danger, because the remaining 5 aliens were now on top of the roof, silently moving about as to not give their position away to their prey. The aliens all made it out unscathed, except one of them who got a small laceration from a bullet cutting through its arm. The aliens could sense all of the humans crowded together inside the same room, but they had another plan.

The alien with the cut on its arm put its arm on the roof, and turned the bleeding side touching the roof. The corrosive acid blood melted right through the roof, giving the aliens an easy form of access into the building without alerting the humans. But they still needed to get into the same room the humans were in without them being alerted either. They found a ventilation shaft, and one of them ripped the slats apart with its claws. The vent was small, but the aliens were thin enough to go through them with ease. The aliens began to climb through the shaft, one by one, and silently traversed the shafts, not making a single sound, like shadows in the night. The lead alien stopped suddenly inside the shaft, and looked (or at least, faced) downwards, where he sensed the presence of the humans, still in the same room. He sensed another shaft going into the same room from another angle, so he ordered some of the aliens to go there, to provide another angle of attack. When all the aliens were ready, they all ripped open the vents and jumped in.

Ash and his friends were all alerted immediately by the sounds of metal ripping, and Jack reached for his rifle just as the aliens jumped in. Jack raised his rifle and began firing upon the aliens. The aliens all leapt at different targets. One alien went for Ash, another went for Misty, another went for Brock, and the last two went for Jack. The alien that went for Ash leapt in front of him, then stood up on two legs and bared its teeth, giving out a menacing hiss as it did so. Ash trembled like a leaf as he practically stared at death in the face. It then took out its inner maw and snapped at Ash as it prepared to kill him. It grabbed him and prepared to take a bite out of his head. Ash panicked, and as he did, he remembered his gun. He took it out, and with what little mobility in his arms he had left, he shot the creature's leg. It shrieked in pain, and let go of Ash. It took a step back, and then it swung its right arm at him. Ash ducked under it, and turned around to shoot it again. He pulled the trigger twice, and both bullets hit the creature, causing it to stagger. The creature turned its head and opened its mouth and hissed again. Ash pulled the trigger one last time at its head, and the bullet hit a soft spot in its mouth, and it went all the way through its head, hitting its brain, killing it instantly. The alien creature shrieked one last time, and collapsed to the floor, dead.

As acid blood seeped from its wounds, Ash simply stared at his doing. Then he remembered that the others were having their own battles. He turned around and looked at the scene. Jack was fighting off 2 aliens, Brock was shooting at the alien with the pistol, and Misty was trying to avoid the conflict with her alien at all costs. Brock fired his pistol a couple more times, but found it empty. It turns out that it takes many more bullets than the amount Ash used to kill, since he was shooting its body and not the head. He quickly found a shotgun next to him and quickly grabbed it, and just as he turned to shoot the alien, it pounced onto him, and began to grapple with him. He resisted, but the alien was much more powerful than him. Just as it was going to kill him with its inner maw, Brock pointed the shotgun at the creature's abdomen, and pulled the trigger. The force of the shot sent the alien flying back a short distance, and hammered Brock back into the floor, as well as sending all of its acid-covered innards flying backwards into the wall a distance away, the acid melting all the metal and the rock wall behind it as well.

Jack fought off the aliens at the same time, but was having a hard time hanging on. One alien swung at him, and he ducked under it and got behind it, while hitting the alien behind the first one in the face with the butt of his rifle, and in response, the alien lashed out its tail, which Jack avoided. The tail hit the other alien in the abdomen, who roared in pain. Ash intervened in Jack's fight and shot one of the aliens in the back. The alien hissed, and turned to face Ash. Brock began to stand up and aim the shotgun. As the alien charged at Ash, Brock took aim, and as the Alien leapt, Brock shot the Alien, knocking it down in mid flight, and it crashed against the side of the wall. There was one last alien fighting Jack, and Jack seemed to be calm as can be. As the alien swung its claws at Jack, he took both hands, while still holding his rifle in his right hand, and grabbed the incoming arm, stopping it right where it was. He then turned around, crouched slightly, and with all the strength he could muster, he flipped the alien over his shoulder. The alien shrieked as it flew over Jack's shoulder, and landed with a heavy thud. Jack quickly got back to his equipment, and shot the alien several times in the head. Its head splattered blood slightly, but Jack was far enough not to get hit.

That was it. There were no more aliens. Ash then sighed with relief. But then, he remembered something else. _Where was Misty?_ Then, he heard a scream, a human scream. He opened a door and saw one of the aliens had Misty in its claws, and was dragging her away into the jungle. "Misty!" screamed Ash, and he raised his pistol and shot at the creature. Ash was not good at aiming the pistol, and since the creature was at a considerable distance away, he kept missing. He kept firing, but kept missing. He took a breath, and with his final bullet he carefully aimed and…._boom._ He shot the alien, but it was a non-lethal hit. It just snarled, and kept dragging her away. At last, he ran towards it, but it was too late. It had already disappeared into the jungle, not to be seen again.

**Well, that's it. Since I procrastinated so long on it, I decided to make the chapter longer. I think it may have been a little too long, but oh well. Please review this chapter and my other ones as well! Stay tuned for the next episode!**


	6. Chapter 6: Reminiscing

**Sorry guys! I've been having a rough time trying to make a new chapter for this story, but things have gotten a little busy… So anyways, I'm going to try to update every week, but you have to understand that I have a busy schedule, so it may not be every week. Anyways, here's the next chapter.**

**Warning: Contains Aliens/Humans gore, and flashbacks. May have a swear or two.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Jack. If I DID own this, then I would be much older than I am today.**

Ash stared at the place where the alien had disappeared into. He didn't save her. She was doomed. Ash didn't know what to do. If he went after it, it would surely kill him, but he couldn't just fail on Misty. He then looked backwards at the shack, where Jack was helping Brock up, whose ears were ringing from hearing the loud blast from the shotgun. "You know, you shouldn't use a shotgun without hearing protection" Jack told him, but Brock's hearing was momentarily impaired.

Ash went running back to Jack, and Jack took notice of Ash outside. "Ash, what were you doing out there?" he asked. Ash quickly responded, in between pants, "I…I had to…to save Misty…" he said, with his hands on his knees. "The alien, it took her into the jungle; we have to go after them!" said Ash. He then began running, but Jack said, "I'm not going out there". Ash stopped in his tracks and looked back at Jack in disbelief.

"…What? How could you say that?" said Ash, but Jack seemed firm in his judgment. "It's too dangerous out there, we don't know if there are more of them out there" he said. Ash could not believe what he was hearing. "Bu-but we can't just _abandon her_!" said Ash. "I'm sorry, but we can't risk going out there" said Jack. Ash couldn't believe that Jack was going to let that creature take Misty. "Well, if you're not going to help me, then I'll go myself!" said Ash. "Boy, are you _deaf_? Did you not just hear me say how dangerous it is out there?" said Jack. "I can't let you go out there" he added. "I don't care; I'm going to get Misty back" Said Ash defiantly.

"Ash" Jack started, but Ash cut him off "You don't know what it's like to lose a friend!" Jack stopped right there, and he began to remember something from a while ago. "Actually," said Jack, "I do know. I know how it's like to lose a friend" he said. Ash's expression softened and he began to think that Jack probably came here with more people, and he's the only one of his group left. "Jack" he said. "What happened?" Jack sighed, and began to remember on how he got trapped on this stinking' island in the first place…

_Jack was in a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter with a group of fellow marines. He was wearing his standard-issue marine uniform, with metal armor pads on his shoulders and on his kneecaps, and he had a helmet with attached night vision goggles that could flip over your eyes. He had his M41A/2 rifle in his hand, and was nervously playing with it in his hands. Next to him sat his friend, Tony. "Hey" said Tony. Jack looked back at him. "I know that you're nervous, but there's nothing to worry about. This is probably just a new species of Pokémon that we're dealing with. That fact did nothing to comfort him. _

_The island was a mining island, where a large coal mine used to be. One day, three workers from the mine went missing. At first, the company that ran the island just thought that it was the result of a cave-in in the mineshafts. But then, it got worse. Every day, more and more people went missing. The remaining workers were then extracted from the island, being deemed unsafe. Authorities from the nearby island came by and took a look at the island to see what was causing the disappearances. After they went missing as well, a second group came by to look at the island. That group came back, with horrifying evidence of what was happening. They came back with several pictures of brutally mauled bodies, the bodies belonging to the previous inspection team, and the most mysterious part of the bodies was the fact that there was a bloody hole pierced through their foreheads._

_A later autopsy of the bodies revealed that they were indeed mauled by an animal. The bloody holes in each of their foreheads pierced right through the skull and the brain, and even came out through the back, as if someone had thrust a dagger right through the skull. These deaths and disappearances were not a simple accident, without a doubt. However, the only problem was that they didn't know what Pokémon would have done this. There was no doubt that a number of Pokémon could have done it, but the fact is that not many Pokémon are openly aggressive to humans. It could have been an Aggron, but they tend to shy away from human settlements. A Charizard won't attack a weaker foe in the wild, and even Ursaring wouldn't go looking for a fight. _

_Since the authorities couldn't take on the threat, they decided to call in the Marines. And so, that was why they were going to the mysterious island. "ETA 5 minutes to the island" said the pilot of the helicopter. Then one of the marines spoke up, being the leader. "Alright marines, listen up: we're here to investigate the island and determine what Pokémon is causing the deaths. They are extremely aggressive according to what info we have, so stay sharp! I want to get through this quick and clean. Got it? Quick and clean!" He was greeted with a chorus of "yes sir". A few minutes later, the helicopter was landing on the island in a clearing next to the coast._

"_Alright, people let's move!" said Victor, the lieutenant, after they had all gotten off. They all began their trek to the source of the problems, the mine shafts. They reached the mouth of the cave, and they noticed how dark it was in the cave. "Switch to your goggles, people" said Victor, and everyone flipped the night vision goggles attached to their helmets over their eyes. The cave turned into a gaping green hole, and Jack managed to see some features inside. "Alright, let's go" said Victor. He began to walk into the cave, and the rest of the marines followed. They slowly walked through the caves, inspecting each corner they came across. As they walked deeper into the caves, they were unaware of the ambush they were walking into. _

_A black figure moved about behind them, and the motion sensor attached to Jack's helmet started pinging. "I'm getting readings!" he said out loud, and everyone stopped walking. They could hear nothing at first. Then, they heard another pinging, and the monitor on the sensor showed a small blue dot moving behind them. They turned around to confront the threat, but they saw nothing. Then, another pinging came from behind them again. Then another, and another, and another pinging sound was heard all around them. Then, all hell broke loose. _

_One of the marines was looking around, but failed to notice the creature above him, coming out of a hole. Suddenly, two large black hands grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him upwards. He began screaming and frantically shooting his gun, and Victor then said, "Open fire!" Then, they all began firing at the general direction of their foes, illuminating the darkness with each bullet. The night vision goggles were not enough for this task, as the marines cold barely even see their enemies, yet they kept killing them. One by one, the creatures killed the marines, remaining unseen the whole time. "Someone pop a flare!" said Victor, shooting into the darkness. A few seconds later, a fizzing sound was heard, and a flare was activated, and thrown into the darkness. The flare immediately illuminated the darkness, enough to see some of the hostiles._

"_What the hell are these things?" shouted one of the marines. They may have still be getting killed, but at least now they could see their foes, and fight back. Then Jack began firing into the cave, not knowing whether his shots were connecting or not. He saw a creature behind one of his friends, and fired at the thing. His shots all connected, and the creature fell with a shriek. More and more of the creatures fell, but more and more replaced them as well. "Just how many of these things are there?" shouted one of the marines. Jack took a look around and saw that they were fighting a losing battle; more and more of his fellow marines kept dying, and Victor saw that too. "Retreat! Retreat!" he shouted, and they all began to run back towards the exit._

"_They're everywhere!" said Jack. "Keep going, move, move!" shouted Victor. Another marine tripped, and was promptly dragged into the darkness, screaming. After a few minutes, they finally made it out of the cave. They had arrived with a platoon of 16 soldiers, and by a head count, they were left with 8 troops. "Alright squad, get to the chopper! Move!" said the Lieutenant. They all ran back to the helicopter, which was waiting for them. They all got inside in a rush, and they shut the door behind them. "Jesus, what happened to the rest of the squad?" asked the Pilot, seeing how only half of the marines made it back alive. "They're all dead now. Get us off this rock!" said Victor. "Roger that" said the captain. He started to press some buttons, but looked up from his work._

"_Holy smokes! What _are_ those things?" he said. Jack leaned forward, and from his seat, saw that several sleek, black bodies were making their way to the helicopter transport."Get us out of here, NOW!" said the lieutenant. "I'm trying, it'll only be a second!" said the pilot. For everyone's sake, he hoped he was right. The creatures were now right outside the helicopter, pounding and scratching at the metal hull of the vehicle. "Come on, come on!" said Victor. Jack was getting really nervous, but he was confident that the metal hull of the helicopter would prote- _

_**CLANG**_

_Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal being broken. The creatures had broken in. Jack got up and raised his rifle. The alien broke through the helicopter and made a hole big enough for it to fit in. Jack fired at the creature, and it fell to the ground, acid blood seeping from its wounds. The acid burned a hole through the bottom of the chopper; now the aliens had another entrance to the helicopter. "Ready your weapons" said Victor, and the marines all raised their guns, preparing for another attack. "I'm done! Hang on guys, we're going home!" he said. As he did, the blades of the helicopter began to spin furiously, and the helicopter began to lift into the air. The aliens began to jump off the helicopter, as it kept ascending slowly. "Alright, they're leaving!" said one of the marines. Suddenly, a thunderous shriek filled the air. They all looked out the window, and what they saw came from the depths of hell itself. It was one of those creatures, but it was twice their size, and had a larger head with a decorative crest. "HOLY SHIT!" said one of the marines. "Get us fucking out of here!" yelled the Lieutenant. The helicopter was already about 8 or 10 feet in the air, and was going higher. However, this did not stop the Praetorian alien. It charged towards the direction of the helicopter, and jumped. Using its powerful hind legs, it propelled itself in the air. It extended its claws and grabbed onto the helicopter._

_The helicopter was capable of carrying a payload of about 19,500 lbs, so the half-ton beast was not going to weigh it down. However, the creature was smart, and started to tear into the helicopter. It ripped open a hole in the back of the helicopter, but they were ready for it. When the Praetorian put its face inside, it was met with the grenade launcher from Victor's under barrel grenade launcher. The creature gave off a shriek of pain, but managed to hold on. It then targeted the next possible weak spot: the propellers. It struck the rear propeller with its bladed tail, and the propeller buckled. It struck it again and the propeller was sent flying off. Inside, the pilot's cockpit, as well as the rest of the interior was bathed in a red light, accompanied by a blaring alarm siren. "Brace yourselves!" Jack heard someone say. Whether it was the pilot, the lieutenant, or himself, it didn't matter. The point was, they were going down._

_The helicopter started spinning in the air, and Jack couldn't make out any features of the outside world; everything was mixed into a green and blue blur, alternating between the ocean and the island's jungles. Then, he saw the sand outside, and everything went black. As Jack came to, he looked around. There were wrecked helicopter parts, some on fire, others not, and a large amount of sand everywhere. He looked in front of him, and saw a dead body. He got up, found that his left leg had a large cut in it, but brushed the pain off. He lifted a piece of metal on top of the body, and found out it was Victor's, the lieutenant. Jack stared at the body with horror, as well as the surroundings. He saw the large alien's dead body under the helicopter's main body, with his neck bent at a gruesome angle._

_He heard some grunting, and saw that Tony, his friend, was struggling to lift a propeller blade off of him. Jack hurried to his side, and lifted the propeller off of him."You ok?" he asked Tony. He got a nod from Tony, and then went to check to see if the rest were alive. After a search of the crash site, they found 2 more marines, both shaken up, but not dead. "Alright, now how're we supposed to get off of this island?" asked Tony. "I got a radio. We could call in some air transport to get us out of here" said one of the marines. But then, they heard a shriek; the aliens were back. The crash sent them running, and now they wanted to finish them off. "Run!" said the second marine, and Jack, Tony, and the other 2 marines went running away. One of the marines had found their gun, and was running while shooting at the aliens as he did so. _

_The aliens kept running at them, but some were cut down by the rifle fire. As they kept running, they caught sight of a shack in the distance. "Look! Over there!" said Tony. They all saw the shack, and immediately made a beeline to the building. As they ran, one of the marines got pounced on, and two aliens began to tear him open. As he screamed in pain, he took a final stand and pulled all of the pins off his grenades before the life came out of him. The two aliens, along with a nearby third one, were enveloped in a ball of fire. The shack was getting closer, but more aliens were advancing on the remaining marines. The marine with the gun got pounced on as he shot an alien. The alien got on top of him, with him facing up, and it struck his tail aimed at the marine's head. But the marine hit the side of the tail with his hand just in time, causing it to hit the floor on his left side. The alien wasn't expecting that move, and stumbled forward slightly. Seeing this as an opening, the marine pulled out his knife and stabbed the alien in the neck. The knife struck a major artery, and doomed the alien to death. However, its blood began to spray everywhere, including on the marine's face. The marine put his hands to his face, screaming in agony, before he succumbed to the acid burns._

_Tony managed to grab the gun, which flew off a good few feet away from the other marine, and kept firing it. Finally, Jack and Tony made it to the shack. They closed the door, but before they did, one last alien struck the door. Both men pushed hard against the door, but the alien was strong as well. With one final heave, they pushed the door closed. The alien scratched at the door to no avail. Then, alien took notice of a nearby window. He jumped through it, and pounced on Tony. "Tony!" screamed Jack, and he knocked the alien off of him. The alien turned to hiss at Jack, and then swiped a claw at Jack. The blow connected, and Jack was sent to the floor, barely conscious. Before it could kill Jack, Tony began to fight with the alien._

_The alien fought back, and eventually also took Tony out. With Tony unconscious, the alien grabbed him and began to drag him away. Jack was barely conscious when this happened, and wanted to do something, to save him. He tried to stand, but the cut on his leg began to take its toll on him, and his vision was blurry. He managed to stand, and grabbed the gun. He stumbled outside, where the alien and Tony were several meters away. Jack raised the gun, and tried to fire. His vision was blurry from the events that had happened only a while ago, and aiming the gun was very hard to do. It felt heavy in his hands, and he could barely stand. With his last few bullets, he took aim, and shot. The shots connected, but hit the alien in a nonlethal area. The alien staggered, but quickly pulled Tony into the jungle. "Tony!" Jack said, but couldn't bring himself to yell. He staggered back inside the shack, and locked the door. He barricaded the window with a nearby piece of furniture, just before he passed out from his injuries._

"Wow, did that really happen?" asked Ash, who was sitting down on a chair adjacent from Jack, who was sitting down in another chair, with his hands on his forehead, and his elbows on his knees. "I could have saved him. But I failed. I failed him…" said Jack, who began to trail off. "I'm sorry" said Ash, who then began to walk back to his room. Jack kept on reminiscing that day, that fateful day where he lost his best friends, all of them.

A while later, as Ash was getting ready for bed, Jack came into the room, saying, "Ash, get your pistol, and take another gun with you. Brock! Grab the shotgun and some medical supplies!" Ash and Brock were slightly confused by this. "Jack, what's going on?" asked Ash. Jack didn't say anything, except, "After you've got your weapons, see which uniforms fit ya, and grab a motion sensor too." Ash once again asked, "Jack, why are you telling us these things?" Jack turned around, and said "I've changed my mind. We're gonna go get your friend back!"

**Well guys, here you go! I hope you enjoy this chapter that I wrote up. I did use a modern-day helicopter for this, because this takes place during modern times. So don't expect lazer rifles in this; it's not Star Wars. So anyways, stay tuned!**

**Reverse Psychology in effect: do NOT review/rate this**


	7. Chapter 7: The Jungle

**Hello everyone! Good news: I'm not dead! I should probably have a good explanation as to why I have delayed this chapter so much. Well, I know part of the answer: Skyrim. I got Skyrim, and it's a great game. So great, in fact, I almost forgot about life! (Not really, but you get the idea). Anyways, here's the next chapter! A new faction joins the story! Take a wild guess who. Enjoy!**

Up in Earth's exosphere, many miles above the island where Ash, Brock, Jack, and Misty are trapped on, another factor is being added to this medley of mishaps. High up above Earth's exosphere, a distorted shape slowly looms over the blue and green sphere. It is invisible to any radar on Earth, and invisible in the literal sense as well, a result of superior cloaking technology. As the semi-invisible figure looms over the planet, it suddenly starts to shimmer, much like twinkling stars in the sky, and eventually a solid black spacecraft, larger than any Human spacecraft, appears in its place, perfectly camouflaged against the night black sky.

As the now visible craft drifts lazily above the planet, it launches 3 pods from its bottom. Each pod, each of them as black as the ship from which they came from, begin to rocket towards the blue and green sphere below. As they approach the lower atmosphere, the bottoms of the pods begin to catch fire, but they stay intact, despite being subjected to orbital drop speed. All three pods, despite growing further away from each other, are all headed to the same little island in the middle of the ocean. Before the pods get to close to the floor, certain mechanical parts retract from the pods, revealing flying and landing gear, and the miniature ships begin to descend into the forest quickly. Finally, one of the ships finds a small rise in a clearing, and lands there slowly, and very quietly.

When the ship lands, the top part of the ship is automatically pulled backwards, revealing the inside of the ship. As it does so, it begins to shimmer, much like its mother ship, as it activates its advanced cloaking function. In a few seconds, the entire ship is reduced to nothing but a slightly distorted figure, invisible to the untrained eye. With the ship invisible, the passenger of the alien craft jumps out of the ship. The ship's driver is also covered with a cloak, for stealth matters. It begins to scan the surrounding forest area, looking for a sign of life. Seeing no immediate threat, the creature decides to begin its trek. It bends its legs slightly, then jumps, reaching a high tree branch, a result of the stronger pull of gravity from its home planet in comparison to Earth's. The Hunt is now on, and only the strong will survive the nightmare to follow…

Ash checked his equipment. One motion tracker, one M41A/2 Pulse Rifle, one pistol, several clips worth of ammunition, a flashlight, some medical supplies, some rations, and his pokéballs. Jack had told him that these creatures, which he doubted were even Pokémon, were more powerful than most Pokémon, but Ash was confident in his team's skills. Jack called the creatures the name that the investigators gave them, "Xenomorphs". Ash was endlessly worried about this upcoming rescue mission. He didn't know how to fire a gun well, but had learned a bit in his time on the island. This small fact did not do much in the way of comforting him.

He looked over at Brock, who had decided that he preferred the most powerful gun in Jack's arsenal, the Shotgun, which used armor piercing rounds that could punch holes in the side of an armored assault jeep, according to Jack. He was looking over his equipment, and by the looks of it, if he added much more equipment, he would become over-encumbered and would barely be able to walk, if that were not the case already. Brock always did have a habit of being careful and rational during tough situations. He looked over to Ash, and gave him a worried smile, being as worried as he was. Pikachu was by him, looking solemnly at him, knowing just how scared and worried he was. Ash was worried, but not just for his safety and for the outcome of the mission, but for Misty's safety as well.

He cared for her, he knew that was sure, even if she was a pain at times, but he didn't think he liked her as more than just a friend. Even if he did, he wasn't ready to admit it to anyone yet, even himself. He pushed his thoughts aside as he heard the steady rhythm of Jack's footsteps approaching him. He looked up at him from his chair, not noticing that he was staring at the floor the majority of the time. Jack was in his full Battle Armor, which consisted of a mix of standard-issue protective vests (they had some protective value against the aliens), and his own custom additions and alterations to his armor, including some heavier metal-based armor that would provide more protection against the alien's claws, and more importantly, their acid. Ash's armor and Brock's armor was similar, because they all needed protection from the negative-pH level acid blood that the aliens harbored.

"You ready, kid?" he asked in his husky voice. Ash slowly nodded in affirmation. Jack turned to a nearby table and grabbed a nearby helmet. Attached to the helmet was a built-in flashlight and night vision goggles, as well as a comm. Unit for easy communication between them. He gave the helmet to Ash, who simply stared at it for a while before turning it over and putting it on his head. "Come on. We'll get through this. Your friend will be alright, don't worry about it" said Jack. "A true soldier needs to be brave, and always keep a positive mindset" he added. Ash sighed, and said, "But I'm not a soldier". Jack was about to retort, but Ash kept talking. "I'm not a soldier; I can't fire a gun right, I can't kill something, and I can't just fight these things like I've been doing it all my life!" he said. His voice was now getting louder, almost to a yelling point. "I mean, if a squad of soldiers like yourself couldn't beat these things, then what makes you think the three of us can?"

Jack sighed, and said, "Look, I know these things are normally too much to ask of someone like yourself, but I have faith in you. I have faith in you, Brock, Pikachu, and the girl," he said. "What separates you two from my team is that you know what you're up against. You've faced these things once before, in close combat, even, and survived, even killing them off when we were outnumbered. You have more experience fighting these things than any of my squad did, and that's definitely an influencing factor here." Jack smiled, a sight that Ash had not seen at all, and he found it comforting. "You two are smart kids. You'll learn quickly and eventually, we'll get through this in one piece". Ash smiled at him, and got up, holding his Rifle in his arms. "Alright. Pikachu, you ready for this?" he asked. Pikachu gave an enthusiastic "Pika!" as a reply. Jack smiled, and said, "Atta boy! Come on now. Brock, let's get going, we don't wanna sit around too long." And with that, they grabbed the last of their equipment and started their trek towards the jungle-covered interior section of the island.

They began to walk for a while, always at a mediocre pace. You could never be too careful when you're inside a jungle that could be full of enemy hostiles. Jack took point, scanning the area in front of them, while Ash looked around their right side, also scanning the surrounding jungle with his gun. Compared to Ash, Brock was almost paranoid, almost feverishly scanning the jungle to their left. He looked ready to fire the shotgun at anything that moved, friendly or not. "This jungle's been pretty quiet all the time I've been here", said Jack. "I don't think there are any Pokémon left in this jungle…so if anything moves, shoot it." Brock looked prepared to do so already, given that he looked so scared. Ash couldn't blame him. They were in a jungle that was infested with those _things_ that could pop out at _any moment_. "Brock, hey buddy" said Ash in a low voice, careful not to cause any unwanted attention to the creatures. Brock looked towards him, the worry on his face evident. "Don't worry, as long as we stay quiet, we may not see any of these things" he told him. Brock's face relaxed somewhat, and said, "You're probably right. I'm just letting these things get to my head." "Oi, keep it down back there. These things probably have good hearing too" said Jack.

They walked a bit more forwards, before Ash finally asked, "Do you know where we're going, Jack?" Still scanning the area as he walked, he quietly responded, "These things are like really big ants, and from what I've learned, they behave like them too. They must have a nest, or a hive somewhere." "And you know where it is?" he asked him. "Not exactly, but I can make a good guess." He responded. Ash stared at him. "So that's it? You're gonna _guess where she is?_" "Well actually, I've been following a trail of bent underbrush, where it dragged your friend, but the trail seems to have gone cold. Unless I get another lead, I won't be able to know for sure" he said, stopping to look around. "Should we look for anything in particular?" asked Brock, who had been silent for a while now. "Not exactly sure, but keep your eyes and ears open, you never know wha-" he began, but was cut off by a scream in the jungle. A human scream. A _female human scream_. "Misty!" shouted Ash, who then began to rush into the undergrowth of the jungle, towards the general direction of the scream. "Ash, wait! It's too dangerous!" said Jack, who followed after him. Brock ran after them, as did Pikachu.

At first, she couldn't feel anything. She only saw darkness. But then, she heard scraping on the ground, as if something heavy was being dragged along. She could feel light from the sun, but very little, and she felt a tight pressure grip around her ankle. She then felt pain, all over her body. Her muscles ached, but she felt as if she had been rolling down a hill (with lots of rocks) for an hour straight. After a few moments, she put two and two together and realized that she was on the floor, in the middle of the forest. She was moving, but she wasn't doing so willingly. She groaned lightly, and lifted her head forwards, and gasped at her captor. It was one of the creatures that captured her and had somehow paralyzed her and knocked her unconscious.

It turned its head to look at her, despite not having any optical features to speak of, and hissed at her, before continuing to drag her. "Hey!" she shouted at it, partly angry and partly scared, "Let go of me!" She began kicking it in the face, but only succeeded in slightly moving its head with each hit and annoying it. She couldn't hit it with full strength, given that she was tired and hurt, but even if she could, she doubted it would make much of a difference. She was hurting her feet more than they were hurting it. As it dragged her along, she spotted a medium sized rock with a sharper side. She made a grab for it, and held onto it. She adjusted her grip on it, and when she was ready, she bent forwards, using most of her strength to do so, and smashed the sharper end onto its cold, black hand. The creature shrieked in pain, but mostly in surprise, and it released its iron grip from her ankle, which was partly red from the creature's strong grip. It pulled back its hand, and using this distraction, she stood up and began to run in the opposite direction.

She screamed for help, hoping to attract the attention of someone, anyone, except more of those creatures, of course. Unfortunately for her, it attracted both parties. But as quickly as she ran, she could still never outrun those things in her current condition. Within moments, the creature was upon her again, holding her arms with its large, four-fingered hands. She screamed again, and the creature snarled at her. She somehow managed to break free from its grasp, and began to run again, but the creature grabbed onto her foot. She kicked the creature with the leg, which resulted in her shoe coming loose. Despite this small distraction, the creature pounced her again, and then flipped her over so she faced it. Then, it flicked its tail from behind it and brought it in front of her. In an almost teasing manner, it slowly passed the bladed tip of its tail mere centimeters from Misty's face, who looked at it as if she were in a trance. Then, the thing pierced her left arm with the tip of its tail, but it was a shallow puncture, obviously not meant to kill. She looked at the thing with a face of terror before she felt the effects of the paralyzing toxin from the creature's tail take effect, and her face slackened, and her arm began to lose feeling. She began to go limp in the creature's cold, malevolent embrace, and she heard the sound of a male voice calling her name before she went unconscious.

Ash kept running through the underbrush of the forest, running in the general direction of the scream. But he could not seem to find Misty. He called out her name again, but nobody replied to his call. Moments later, Jack came by right behind, and said, "Dammit kid, you can't do these things. There may have been one of those things in the bushes; you could have been killed!" "But I heard her! She's here!" replied Ash as he turned to face him. Brock and Pikachu had already arrived at the scene by now, and were looking at the two argue. Suddenly, Brock heard a small _beep…beep…beep_ coming from his equipment. He fumbled around his equipment before he finally came up with his motion tracker. It showed three small _X_'s on it, representing friendly units, being Ash, Jack, and Pikachu, but then he saw a white dot on the outer edge of the tracker's screen.

Then, he saw a few more dots. These dots began to advance upon them, and he could only guess what they meant. As the dots neared them, the tracker began beeping more consistently. The tracker read _11 meters._ "Uh, Jack" he said, interrupting his argument with Ash. "What is it?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "What do the white dots represent?" he asked him, afraid of the answer. Jack looked at him strangely for a moment, but then realized what he was talking about. He whipped around and brought up his assault rifle in a single motion, and began backing up as he did so. "We got contacts! Dead ahead!" he said. Ash turned around and lifted his gun too, and began to back away quickly. Brock looked back at the tracker, which now read _8 meters._ Then it went to 7_ meters._ These things were clearing a meter in around second! As the dots got closer to them, the beeping became more consistent. _Beep…beep…beep..beep..beep..beep.._"6 meters!" shouted Brock, trying to give them an idea on when to prepare for the attack. _5 meters. 4 meters. 3 meters. Beep beep beep beep beepbeepbeepbeep. 2 meters. 1 meter._

Suddenly, the undergrowth exploded in a flash of black hide and silver fangs, and Ash dove out of the way to avoid getting pounced on by the creature. Jack, however, couldn't avoid the other alien, and got pounced on. It pinned him to the ground, and Jack put his gun in the way to avoid getting bitten. Ash quickly regained his composture, and aimed at the alien. He pulled the trigger, and a flurry of bullets flew at the creature, which jumped out of the way of the incoming hail of fire from an untrained shooter. As Ash kept trying to shoot the alien, he did not notice the other alien come up behind him. It grabbed him from behind, catching Ash by surprise. What surprised him more was how it lifted him clear off the ground, and put him at eye, or face, level. Ash screamed for help, which caught the attention of Pikachu. "Pikaaaaa…" he said, charging up the electricity inside his cheeks, before discharging every volt into the alien, who was still holding Ash. "CHUUUUUUU!" he said as both the alien and Ash were caught in the powerful electrical discharge. When the electricity subsided, the alien dropped Ash to the floor, dazed. It quickly regained its composture, and snarled at the little yellow nuisance.

Pikachu readied itself to fight. Despite it being miniscule compared to the black nightmare, he was ready to defend his friend to the end. The alien growled, and roared as it pounced at Pikachu. With finely-tuned reflexes, Pikachu used Quick Attack to speed out of the way. He came back at it with an Iron Tail, which struck it in the face very hard. However, its iron-like hide absorbed most of the blunt force of the attack. It snarled at the Pokémon, and lashed out its tail at it. However, it struck the dirt where Pikachu once stood. It then began to chase the little yellow Pokémon around the surrounding forest area. Meanwhile, Jack was still grappling with the alien, who was attempting to take a bite out of Jack with its dagger-like tongue. Jack finally got a good grip on the alien, and kicked it in the abdominal area, then rolled so that he was on top of the alien instead. He quickly got off the alien and onto his feet, but with the reflexes of a martial artist, the alien quickly got back onto all fours as well, and stood on two legs to strike out with its claws.

Jack blocked the strike with his gun, and the alien grabbed onto his gun as well. Both of them grappled some more, with the alien having the advantage in the field of physical strength and in weight. Despite this, Jack found enough strength to push the alien back. Then he smacked the alien with the butt of his rifle, rewarding him with a satisfying _smack_ as the weapon hit the alien on the head. It retreated back a step or two, but that was all he needed. He aimed at the alien, and pulled the trigger. The bullets found their mark, and the alien fell backwards with a scream of pain as acid blood sprayed into the air and burned the forest greenery that it touched. He looked around and saw Brock wildly shooting at the alien that simply ran around him, and ducked when a blast of buckshot hit the tree behind him. He aimed, and shot the alien in midair as it jumped to another tree, causing it to fall to the floor, shrieking in pain. Brock then shot the alien with the shotgun, the buckshot punching a bloody hole clear through the chitin armor with ease.

But his moment of relief was short-lived as another alien confronted Brock, who was now desperately pulling the trigger and pumping the shotgun, coming to the realization that he needed to reload. But before it could make a move on Brock, Jack had gotten in front of Brock, and tried to smack it with his gun, but the creature wrenched the weapon from his hands and threw it away. It then slammed its tail into Jack's flank, sending him flying a short distance. It turned to Brock again, and advanced on him, silver teeth bared and sharp claws ready to dismember him. But before it could do so, Brock saw a hand on its shoulder pull it back, knocking it off balance. It was Jack, who also had his large Bowie knife in his hand. Without any further hesitation, Jack plunged the knife into the spine of the alien, causing it to shriek in pain, then pulled out the sizzling knife, allowing the body to slump forwards to the ground.

Brock gave Jack a nod of appreciation, before they heard another alien screech. They both looked to their side, and saw an alien chasing Pikachu around the underbrush. Jack looked around for his gun on the floor, and saw Brock reloading and taking aim. "Don't shoot! You might hit Pikachu!" he told him. Brock looked on helplessly as the alien chased Pikachu. Pikachu may have been fast, but these things were speed demons, and had no trouble keeping up the chase. Pikachu dashed at a tree and jumped onto it, before turning the other way and propelling himself through the air with his legs. The alien followed suit, but it had stronger legs, and caught Pikachu in midair. It clutched the furry yellow mouse, and landed with him still in its claws. It immediately opened its mouth and launched its inner maw at him. Brock gasped, and Jack finally got a hold of his gun, but there was nothing he could do for the Pokemon.

However, since lightning-fast reflexes are not as fast as actual lightning, the alien's inner maw did not get to strike Pikachu before his thunderbolt surged throughout their the thunderbolt wore off, Pikachu broke free of its considerably weakened grasp and rolled backwards, preparing an Iron Tail. As soon as the alien broke from the temporary paralysis, it lunged forwards at Pikachu. However, with precise timing, Pikachu swung hit Iron Tail horizontally, and struck its neck! The alien gave a short shriek of pain as the Iron Tail splintered its vertebrae, rendering it incapable of movement. It fell to the side, and barely twitched as it lay on the floor. Pikachu exhaled deeply as soon as he had confirmed his kill. All eyes then turned on Ash, who was now getting up after having been hit with Pikachu's thunderbolt. Brock hurried to his side, and grabbed Ash's forearm to help him up. As Ash finally stood up, he took notice that Jack's knife was sizzling from the alien's acid blood, but it had not disintegrated from the acid.

"How come your knife isn't dissolving?" asked Ash. Jack took a look at his knife, then said, "Didn't I tell you this knife was special?" Ash looked around, and said, "We lost Misty…" But Jack said, "I'm sure we'll find another trail. It's not going to be easy, given all the wrecked foliage around here. But we can never be too-" "I found something!" interrupted Brock, crouching low to the ground several yards away. Jack and Ash looked at each other, and then hurried over to where he was. They looked down, and saw what Brock had found. It was a red shoe, with a decorative white stripe. This was Misty's shoe! "This looks like Misty's shoe! And look ahead!" said Brock, pointing at a large section of bent ferns, where a large object may have been dragged. "Come on, let's go!" he said, before trekking through the underbrush. Ash followed him, and Jack simply said, "I stand corrected, that was easy", before marching after the other two boys. Pikachu, however, was staring intently at one tree branch, suspecting danger. After several moments, however, he dismissed it and followed after his two-legged friends.

High up in a tree, a cloaked figure was observing three humans that were crouched low to the ground. They seemed to be investigating something small on the floor. With them, a small creature was also looking in on their investigation. An animal companion, perhaps? He then saw one of the humans point to the direction where one of the _Kainde amedha_, or Xenomorphs, as the humans called them, had dragged its quarry. They all then started to walk towards that direction, except for the small creature. It stared at him, or at least at his general direction. He readied his weapon, but before he did anything else, the creature turned away and followed after its masters. He released the grip on his weapon as he saw the humans walk away. But then, as soon as they were out of sight, he heard an inhuman scream filled the air. He turned, and saw a _kainde amedha_ on a tree, calling in its siblings. The cloaked figure, instead of running, stood his ground, deactivating his cloaking device as he did so. The Youngblood Predator grabbed his throwing disc and launched it at the alien. The disc cut right through its chitin armor, decapitating the vile creature. However, it's call did not go unanswered, and its siblings quickly jumped headfirst into the fray.

The Predator unsheathed its wrist blades, making a loud _ching_ sound as the blades extended to about a foot long. The first alien that pounced at him was grabbed by the throat in midair, and then was promptly smashed into the ground with enough force to incapacitate a normal human. However, its natural endurance and body armor may have absorbed the blunt trauma from the blow, but it did nothing to stop the blades from penetrating into its heart. Quickly moving onto its next target, the Predator turned to another alien, who tried to thrust its tail into the alien hunter's chest. However, the Predator was faster, and sidestepped the tail, before grabbing it and pulling hard on it. The alien was sent flying forwards, into the extended blades of the Predator. Pulling off the corpse from his blades, the Youngblood jumped down to the floor, where it wouldn't have to fear getting pushed off. As three more aliens converged against him, the Predator pulled out a short staff, which extended into a much longer spear with two sharp ends. Then, the aliens rushed at him, and he got ready to fight for his honor. The hunting was good here.

**Well, that's it guys! Read and Review! Recently, I've been getting a lot of favorites and follows, which is good, but no reviews. All you need to do is press a button and write something down. Tell me your favorite color, or why you hate ponies, but preferably write about your thoughts about the chapter. See ya!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Refinery

**Hey guys, guess what? I got my first review! *confetti and balloons drop from the ceiling* Thank ou very much, grievous27! FYI, I have the rest of the story planned out, and it might be over in a few chapters. Don't worry, I'll try and keep these chapters long so you have lots to read. Okay, **_**now**_** you can enjoy.**

After what seemed like several minutes of continuous battling, the Predator has finally finished off all of the Aliens except one. It hissed in defiance at the extraterrestrial hunter, who readied itself to finish off the last of these serpents. It threw itself at the Predator, but the hunter was fast to react, and grabbed the Alien by the throat. The alien quickly opened its salivating mouth and unleashed its inner maw upon the Predator. But before it could strike its target, the Predator had grabbed the miniature mouth in mid-strike, and the Alien began to flail in his grip. With one good jerk of his arm, the inner maw was ripped clean off the alien, acidic blood spurting from the newly-created hole in its mouth. It thrashed even harder in the Predator's grip, but it was to no avail. The predator then hoisted up the alien, and with the same hand that he used to pull out its tongue, he stabbed the alien with his wrist blades, fully extended and caked with green blood. The alien screeched in pain as the Predator held up the dying alien with one arm, before its head finally drooped downwards, lifeless. The Predator then pulled the bleeding corpse off his blades with his free hand.

With all the aliens dead, he surveyed the area in case another one came. After several moments, none came, and he confirmed his solitude in the general vicinity. He looked at a few of the mutilated corpses and body parts from different aliens, courtesy of his plasma launcher, and saw a few that were still mostly intact. He may be able to bag a few trophies before continuing his mission, so he set to work on removing parts of the carcasses for his collection. As he did this, a small, fleshy, spider-like creature soundlessly crawled from behind him, up high on a branch just above him. The Predator then took off its mask; it had taken some damage in the last fight, and he needed to be careful as to be sure it doesn't break. The facehugger behind him trilled in anticipation of its pounce, catching the Predator's attention. It whipped around to meet its assailant, and was greeted by a pink body with fingerlike appendages, which latched onto his face.

"Come on, guys! We need to catch up with Misty!" shouted Ash as he walked ahead. Jack and Brock trailed shortly behind, followed by Pikachu. "Unless you want to fall into another ambush, without our help, I suggest _you slow down"_ said Jack, becoming annoyed by Ash's over-eagerness. He was a patient man, but he had his limits, even when the enemy could be at anywhere at any time, and they had to keep a sharp eye out. Brock, however, was still being wary and careful, clutching his shotgun as if it were his life-support which, in this case, probably was. Neither Ash nor Brock could believe that they were in such a mess; neither believed that they would have to hold a gun, much less kill anything, but Ash seemed to be more acceptant of this fate. Brock, on the other hand, was still trying to keep himself together. Jack spoke: "We're going pretty deep into the unknown parts of this island, boys. Keep close together, because I don't know my way around these places."

Ash kept walking, and saw a large figure beyond the tree line. "Look over there!" he said, and 3 heads turned in response. They all made a beeline for the figure, and they managed to get through the tree line. Over in the distance, a large building loomed over the jungle terrain. It had a large and long body, with several large red-and-white pipes jutting out from the top. Nothing came out of these pipes, evidence of the lack of occupants. At least, lack of human occupants. "What is that?" Brock wondered out loud. "This is the refinery." said Jack. "This island was used for mining. They'd take the extracted metals there to refine them, to make them usable in products." "What happened to it?" asked Ash. "Three men went missing. The search parties that went after them disappeared too" responded Jack. "They found their bodies, rather, what was left of them, and the island was deemed to be too dangerous to put workers on them." They all looked at the ominous structure, devoid of any signs of life, just like the rest of the island. But then, they saw a sleek black figure scuttle across the roof of the building, before crawling back into another crevice. "That must be where he took your friend, in there" said Jack. "Well, I guess we gotta go in there, then" said Ash. Jack turned, saying "Alright, lads, lock and load. Keep a sharp eye out for any movement whatsoever." With that, they all began walking towards the looming refinery in the distance. They didn't see any more movement, but they all knew better than to let their guards down. At a time like this, Ash wished that he could call on his Pokémon to help. Unfortunately, the pokeballs malfunctioned, and rarely worked anymore; he'd have to get them fixed if he ever got off this forsaken island.

At last they reached the doors of the refinery. Jack gave them a signal to stand back, and they complied. Jack got to a crouch, and put his gun up. He slowly put his hand out and opened the door. He poked the gun's barrel through the entrance, followed by his own head. He looked left and right, and upon seeing nothing move, he signaled for the other two boys to follow. "Close the door" hissed Jack, who was in a crouching position, "these bugs aren't stupid, they'll know we came in through here." Pikachu came inside, and closed the door as quietly as he could, before they carried on. They walked slowly, guns trained on their surroundings, and Ash took the time to take in his surroundings; there were lots of crates in different places, and alarms with burned out warning lights. They came across another room, and they repeated the procedure with the first door. They went inside, and they saw a couple of chairs placed in front of a large screen. The room reeked of decay, and Ash quickly discovered its source. One of the chairs had a body that was slumped forwards in his chair.

Jack slowly approached the body and moved it back so it was lying back on its chair. Ash gasped at what he saw: the man's chest cavity was torn open, as if someone shot him from behind. He saw no entry wound, and the pieces of rib bone he saw were bent outwards. Whatever killed this man burst out from _inside him_. Jack pushed the body aside, and began working on rebooting the computers in front of the dead man. "What're you doing?" asked Ash. "I'm checking to see if the surveillance cameras work. We might be able to catch a glimpse of what's to come" He responded. Unfortunately, the computers would not properly turn on; they had no power. He redirected power from another, still-intact station, and the screen hummed to life. He selected the video cameras, but when they turned on, it was too dark to see anything. Well, so much for _that_ plan. Jack cursed under his breath, and went to work trying to see if the camera memory was still intact. It was, and Jack put the video feed to play.

The large panel broke itself up into several smaller screens, each showing what was occurring in the refinery at different points. One of the video screens showed a small group of men walking, some armed, and others unarmed. By the way they walked, the group of hired guns seemed to be very relaxed and calm, either from self-assuredness or just professional attitude. The mercenaries were dressed in grey camouflage-patterned clothing, while the other people were dressed in white, clearly not soldiers. '_This must be the investigation team'_ thought Ash. Suddenly, all the lights went off, but the cameras were still operating. There were some gasps of surprise in the video, but they all turned on their flashlights. The mercenaries scanned around for threats, and saw nothing.

Suddenly, a pair of black claws grabbed one of the men in white and whisked him away, the man screaming for his life. The troops opened fire, but the bullets did not find their target. Ash heard someone in the group say something, and they began to retreat. However, another man in white got grabbed, and one of the soldiers tried to save him. He was promptly pounced upon, and attacked. The alien on top of him got shot off, but its acid blood doomed the man to a painful death. The rest tried to keep running, but suddenly, they were all attacked by a group of aliens, and the only thing they could see and hear were the sounds of screeching aliens, screaming men, and the loud sound of assault rifles firing randomly. All four stared in horror at the scene, before Jack shut it off, saying "Okay, we saw what we needed to. There's a lot of these buggers here, so we have got to be _extra careful._ Understand?" All three 'recruits' nodded fearfully.

He quietly walked over to the next door, and turned around to see if all of them were in position. Once this was done, he carefully nudged the door open with the barrel of his gun. Well, at least he tried to do so; the door wouldn't budge. It was as if someone had welded the doors shut. He pushed again, harder this time, but it still would not open. He finally became annoyed, and kicked the door, but it still wouldn't open. He growled, and he finally took a few steps back, before ramming the door with his shoulder. The door finally gave away, but not completely. He gave the door several more strong pushes before he got it open enough to get through. He was completely unprepared for what he saw next. "What the hell…" Ash heard Jack say. "What? What is it?" he asked. "Take a look at this" said Jack, stepping in so Ash could follow. He stepped through the door way, and gaped in awe at the interior of this hallway.

Every single wall was covered in a shiny, black substance which was unidentifiable by anyone there. "What _is_ this stuff?" he heard Brock ask. Ash put his and to the wall and felt the black substance. It was slimy, as was evident from its shine, but it was also resinous and thick. Some bits hung like tendrils growing out of the walls, which creeped Ash out. However, what creeped him out even more was when one of the tendrils actually started to move. "Over there!" he shouted, and Jack snapped his gun up to aim. The alien snarled at them, and was quickly put down by Jack's accurate marksmanship. However, more aliens converged onto their position, and they all began to fight. Ash aimed down the iron sights on the barrel at an alien and opened fire recklessly. "Use short, controlled bursts, Ash!" Jack reminded him, before putting another bullet into a nearby alien's head. Ash, being as untrained in shooting as he was, didn't know the concept of accurate burst-firing. Regardless, some bullets made their way into the alien's body, but it didn't die from his inexpertly placed shots.

It jumped at him, and he dove out of the way, causing the alien to collide with one of its siblings in midair. They scrambled to their feet, and Brock took one out with the shotgun. He kept shooting at the other alien, but it had jumped out of the way in time. Ash focused on helping Brock, who was getting attacked by two aliens. He aimed down the sights, but every time he thought he could hit an alien, he worried about hitting Brock too. He got closer, but one of the aliens turned around and hissed at him. It charged, and Ash fired wildly at it. As his target got closer, it got bigger as well, and more bullets struck home. The alien hissed in pain as its green blood was spilled, burning the floor. He looked around, and saw Pikachu smashing an alien's head with an Iron Tail, dislocating its skull. Brock killed another alien, and focused his sights on another alien, the one that was behind Jack. Jack turned around, and his eyes widened in horror as Brock got ready to pull the trigger, forgetting Jack's presence in the heat of the moment. "HOLY SH-" he said before he ducked, the rest of the word being drowned out by the shotgun. The buckshot punched a hole through the alien's skull, splattering it across the wall. It fell without even a whimper, for its vocal chords could not utter any noise.

Brock's eyes widened as he realized how close he had been to killing Jack. Jack peeked his head up from behind cover slightly, before getting up all the way. "I'm on your side! Be careful, you almost shot my damn head off!" he shouted at him. Brock looked at him sheepishly, and scared at invoking his wrath. Jack simply sighed, and shook his head before walking away. Brock sighed in relief, having avoided a force to be reckoned with. Ash looked back at the alien he killed. It was his first kill, ever. The only thing he ever bothered to kill were flies, but this…this was different. He knew that if it wasn't the alien, then it was going to be him, and he sure as heck wasn't going to die here, not so far away from home, not by some stupid rogue creature that doesn't like humans. But still, his morality was being tested, and he didn't like the feeling very much at all. Jack looked at him, and said, "Congrats, kid, you made your first kill. No worries, there's more where that came from."

With that, he began to walk away, and Ash stared at the still body, the body which used to be alive, until he forced all its bodily life functions to cease. He felt a tug at his pants leg, and he looked down to see a concerned Pikachu looking at him. As long as he was with him, and his friends, Ash was confident. He was sure that they'd make it off the island. He smiled, and said, "Come on buddy. Let's go".

The Predator's eyes snapped open as soon as he felt consciousness. His breathings was ragged and labored, as if he was a mother that was giving birth. He looked around, and saw the dead bodies of aliens. His chest felt very strange, and his face and throat were aching, as if someone was trying to suffocate him. He coughed a little, trying to lubricate his desert-dry throat, when his eyes fell upon the dead body of an expended facehugger. He then remembered what had happened, and his expression changed to one of horror. He harbored a disease, a parasite inside of him; he was tainted, and so was his honor. He had to purge himself of the parasite or kill himself before it was too late, lest his honor be tainted with him into death forevermore.

He tried to stand, and succeeded after only a single attempt. He began to look around his pack for his medical supplies. Suddenly, he realized his grave mistake: he had left it back on his transport pod. He growled in anger; such incompetence would be the end of him, if he would be lucky enough to survive this hunt. At this point, his breathing was even heavier than before, and he did not feel fit to be jumping across the trees or to continue hunting. He began to walk towards the direction of his ship, when all of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain erupt from the bowels of his chest cavity. He roared in pain, and clutched his chest as he felt a pain worse than a heart attack fill his body. There was no time to waste; he made a mad dash towards him pod. His leg muscles could carry him very fast across the jungle, faster than a normal human, in fact. Regardless, he was dubious of his survival chance under these circumstances.

As he ran, he felt another sharp pain in his chest, and he staggered as he ran, almost falling on his face. The pain was almost unbearable, worse than anything else he had felt in his life, worse than any other pain on any of his other hunts. He got to his feet and ran towards his pod, now in his sight. He finally got to the pod, mostly ignoring the now more frequent chest pains. He scrambled for his medpack, looking around the landing pod. Finally, he grabbed the medpack and quickly searched around for the remedy to his situation. His claws clamped around the two items he needed: a large syringe, and a vial full of blue liquid. He carefully sterilized the needle, and took in some of the liquid into the syringe. Just as he was going to inject himself, however, he felt yet another sharp pain inside of him, worse than all the others. He thought he could literally see his chest bulge out! But he was not going to die, not like this, at the hands…er, claws of these vile beasts! With the last remaining strength he could possibly muster, he gave a roar of defiance, and plunged the needle deep into his chest cavity, injecting himself with the miracle fluid.

At last, he felt the pain of the monster inside of him subside, and his hand fell to his side. He was tired, yes, but definitely not defeated. He would live to fight and hunt another day, and he had regained his honor and glory by purging himself of the impurity within by killing the-he roared in pain as his chest exploded in a glorious mass of fluorescent green blood and bits of bone from his ribcage. His head slumped to the side, unconscious. For now, it was still alive, but shock and blood loss would finish him off soon. A small, fleshy pink creature poked its head out from the ribcage that was its temporary home. It looked at the now unconscious figure that gave it life support, and snarled. Two clawed mandibles separated, and a small inner maw snapped outside of the creature's mouth. This was not just a new hybrid of alien; it was an abomination, a freak of nature, and he had given birth to it. The creature finally decided to crawl out of the carcass, and out into the deep jungle, where it would grow to its full size.

Misty woke up in cold sweat. Her senses were all fuzzy, and she could not feel her limbs. Her entire body ached, as if she had been dragged…wait a minute. Her eyes shot open, and she looked around her. She was trapped in a wall! A thick, black, resinous substance held her against the wall behind her, and she struggled to break free, but to no avail. She looked around her, and her eyes widened even more in horror. Several bodies were also trapped against the wall, in the same manner as herself. Both men, women, and pokemon bodies were strapped against the wall, all of them devoid of any signs of life. It was clear how they died; they all had large, bleeding holes in their chests, exposing their organs and splintered bits of ribs. She began to panic, and she struggled in the resin, but it would still not break.

She finally ceased her struggles, and she sighed, nearly in tears. She didn't want to die, in here, far away from all civilization. But then, she heard a screech that nearly made her wet herself. She could barely see 3 feet in front of her, but she could barely make out the figure of an alien on the nearby wall. She screamed, and the alien jumped down from its perch. It walked over to her, and she began to whimper in fear. It hissed at her, and it grabbed something large and bulbous. It placed it right in front of her bound body. It then snarled one last time, before stalking off to another area of its hive. She looked at the large, round object with fear and curiosity. That curiosity turned to terror as the figure opened up like a blossoming flower. Out of the egg, a facehugger slowly crawled out into the world. Now, Misty screamed as the Facehugger prepared to pounce.

Ash and his friends were getting annoyed, and worried. They had been wandering the refinery for a long time now, and they had not a single clue on where Misty was, if she even was in here. "Have we been here before? I think we've been here before. Dammit, where are we going?" Ash heard Jack say. The truth of the matter, in fact, was that they did not know a square inch of his building, and they had been wandering aimlessly for what felt like an hour, but was probably less. He gave an exasperated sigh, and decided to sit down. Besides having killed a couple more aliens on their way here, they had not done much in the manner of finding Misty. What if they never found her? What horrible fate would befall his redheaded friend if he failed her? These were two of the plethora of questions that made up the myriad of problems going on in his mind right now.

"Jack," he said, getting the attention of the hardened soldier who could not find his way around the building."We're lost." Ash didn't always point out obvious things, but it was obvious that they were not going the right way. Jack looked at him, and gave a sigh of defeat. "Alright, we're lost. I don't know how to get around here, or where your friend is even being held. I need a reference; a map, maybe, or at least a bloody sign or two!" he said, getting angry. "Whoever built this place must have been a freaking Einstein, or a retard who doesn't know how to put up a simple sign!" Now he was cursing off the building designers. This was perfect, just perfect. 'We're not gonna get anywhere if you're goiong about arguing about the building design!" shouted Brock. "Pika!" he heard Pikachu say in agreement. Jack looked back at them, and sighed. "You're right, you're right. I need to keep calm and think this through." Suddenly, he heard his comm. Unit pick up a signal. It was garbled, but obviously, someone was trying to contact them.

"A signal!" said Ash. Jack grabbed his communications unit and began to fiddle with the settings on it. Finally, get got a setting the was good enough for him to hear clearly. "Hello? Hello? Who is this?" he inquired. First, there was silence, but a female voice was soon channeled through the radio waves. "Hello, Corporal. It's good to finally speak with you." Jack had an astonished look on his face. "Who are you, and how did you know my exact ranking?" "Please, we have no time for introductions. I need your help." Jack was now getting annoyed by this woman. "I don't even know who you are, why do you expect us to help _you_?" he asked. There was silence, before he heard her say, "I have something you want." Now things were getting interesting. "What do you have that we want?" asked Jack. "I can help you find your friend" he heard the calm voice say.

**And that's it. Please review the story, it really helps me find motivation to continue the story. I don't want to leave something half-finished like a bunch of other people out there. By the way, I am basing the story partly off of the AVP 2010 game's Marine campaign. Okay, see ya!**


	9. Chapter 9: Misty

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katya, the Aliens or the Predators, or any Pokémon or Pokémon characters.**

Jack partly could not believe what he had just heard. This person could find the girl? That made him suspicious. "How do you know what we want?" he asked. The voice curtly responded, "I am simply making a prediction based on my current awareness of your situation." Ash told him "Come on, Jack, where's Misty?" "I'm getting to that, just hold on" he replied. Ash kept talking: "Why won't you trust this person? What have we got to lose?" he said. Jack thought for a moment, and then sighed. He turned his head back towards his walkie talkie and said "Alright. What is it that you need?" The woman told them "I need you to get to the radio dish, at the top of the tower. There, I will need you to re-adjust the dish to point at the colony." Now Jack was confused. "Colony?" he said. "This island had a colony on it so that the workers could live on the island" she responded. "Understood" said Jack, and turned off the talkie. "Alright guys, we need to get to the top of the building" he said. Ash, Brock, and Pikachu gave him an affirmative nod, before going up into the staircase. They climbed up all the way, and made it to a door.

Jack opened the door carefully, and went through. The sun was out, shining brightly on their faces, but they paid no attention to it. At the corner of the building, there was a satellite dish pointed at the sky. "Okay, we're at the dish. What now?" he asked. "I need you to point the satellite dish towards the colony so that I can receive its signal" was the voice's response. Jack walked over to the dish, and the voice told him the coordinates to the colony. Jack then punched in a couple of numbers into the satellite's manual control board, and hit the 'enter' key. The satellite then readjusted itself so that it was pointing towards one direction of the vast jungle island. "Hmm, I cannot access the necessary files…" said the voice. "Files? What files?" asked Jack. "I will explain later. Right now, I need you to get to the bottom of the refinery" she said. "We just climbed all the way up here, and now you want us to go down again" he asked, more than a little annoyed. "I can reroute power into the elevators" she said. After a few moments, the voice came back, saying "The elevator is now online. Be careful though, I still need your help." The three walked towards the elevator doors to the side of the staircase, and the doors opened before them. They walked in, and Jack pushed the bottom floor button.

"What do you think she needs from the files?" asked Brock. "I don't know, but I'm not sure I like it," said Jack. The elevator slowed to a halt, and the doors opened. The small team walked out of the elevator, and Jack talked into the radio again. "Okay, we're here, now what?" he asked. "I need you to get to the shuttle pod" said the voice. "Shuttle pod? What's that?" asked Ash. "To get to the pod, you need to go across the hallway, and turn left into the blue doors" she said, ignoring his question. Jack merely shrugged, and they followed her directions. Ash looked around as he walked, seeing broken glass on the floors, broken security cameras, and the occasional dried bloodstain here and there. This was a living nightmare indeed. They finally reached the room, and all of them went inside. The blue doors slid open, revealing a room with several glass containers that held nothing. "These are the shuttle pods. I need you to go down in them, to the underground floors" said the voice again. "You just press the button to go down, and you step into the pod. Simplicity in itself" she added. Ash gave Jack a worried look, unsure of the safety of the pods. Regardless, they each made their way into a pod.

Ash pressed a button that was on a small stand in front of the pod, and the doors slid open. He carefully got in it, and the doors closed around him, startling him and Pikachu. Then, the doors under the pod slid open, and the pod was pushed downwards. Ash staggered a bit, steadying himself from the movement. The pod was moving very fast, yet he felt very little of its effects. Finally, the pod slowed to a halt, and the doors opened. The room was very dark, and he stumbled out of the pod. He felt around, trying to hold onto something, and his hands finally touched a wall. He heard the other pods arrive, but still looked around for a light switch. Some light became visible, and Ash turned to see Jack wielding his gun with the flashlight on. He quickly found the light switch, and the room was illuminated in a white light. Ash squinted a bit, but his eyes quickly adjusted. They then walked out of the room, and were amazed at what they saw.

There were computer terminals everywhere, and there were several rooms that had glass walls. And this was only the first room. "Okay, now go to the computer terminal and unlock the files for me" said the voice. Jack complied, and went over to one of the computer terminals, the largest one. He went ahead and punched in some commands, and pressed enter. "Thank you, I now have the files I need" she said. "Do you mind telling us what exactly you needed from the files? And what this place is?" asked Jack. "The files you got for me concerns Karl Bishop Weyland" replied the voice with unnerving calmness. "Weyland? Who's that?" asked Jack. "Mr. Weyland was the man that is responsible for the outbreak of the Xenomorphs on the island," she said, referring to the aliens. "The place you are in now is the old research lab. The refinery was added the research lab by Weyland in order to study the creatures" she added. "Old research lab? So I'm guessing that there's another one?" asked Jack. "Correct" she said. "The files I have here is the data that he collected. From what I can read, he was studying the creatures to use them" she said. "He wanted to be able to control them for his own personal gain?" said Jack, clearly more than a little shocked.

"Indeed. And now, the Xenomorphs are infesting the entire island because of him" she replied, again with inhuman calmness. "Alright, we've got your intel. Now tell us where the girl is!" he told her. "I am reading a marine signal outside of your current perimeter" she said. Before the abduction, Jack had given all of them a tracking device, so that the motion sensor would recognize them as friendly. "Alright, take us there" he said. "First you need to go back up" she said. The three of them went back into the pods, and went up again. They got off the pods, and went outside into the hallway. "Now, go down the hallway until you reach a dead end" she said. The statement seemed a bit paradoxical, but they followed orders. They reached the dead end, a wall covered in the black resinous substance that many other walls had. "There is a door on that wall, you'll have to clear out the resin" she said. Jack, Ash, Brock, and even Pikachu began to try and tear off the substance, but it was very strong. Jack finally lost patience, and pulled out his knife to cut the black goop.

At last, they had cleared off enough of the substance to be able to see the door, and they opened it. Inside, there was a large room, with more resin on the walls. They began to walk forwards, carefully checking the corners. More aliens came, and the four of them quickly finished them off, but there was something strange about these aliens. The aliens had differing body structures; one of them had a serpentine body, with no limbs, and another looked like it had a beak. Were there different kinds of these aliens? Ash was getting more curious about these aliens, but his thoughts were interrupted as a foul stench hit him. He gagged, and pinched his nose, saying "Yuck, what smells?" Jack knew that smell all too well. "It's the smell of death," he responded. The voice came back, and said "Brace yourselves, you may not like what you see." Ash gave Brock a worried look, and they kept walking. They rounded a corner, and none of them could help but gasp at the horrid sight before them.

Bodies were lined up against the walls, both Pokémon and human alike. Pidgeottos, Ekanses, and several other kinds of Pokémon were among the kinds on the wall. They were all held to the wall by the same resinous substances that decorated the walls. Some were decayed, having been there for a while, and others looked slightly less decayed, fresh catches. One characteristic was shared among those on the walls: they all had a giant, bloody hole where their chests used to be. Ash's stomach gave away, and he vomited on the floor vigorously. Brock was crouched next to him, trying to comfort him, and Jack looked around. One of the bodies caught his eye: a young girl that was unconscious, with a dead facehugger on the floor near her. She didn't have a bloody hole in her chest.

"I found her!" he said. Ash immediately looked up, and followed Jack's line of sight to Misty. "Misty!" he said, and ran over to her. He walked up to her, and looked at her face. Her body was sheen with sweat and a slimy substance, and her eyes were closed. "Is she dead?" asked Ash. Jack walked over to her and put his finger to her neck's artery. "She's got a pulse. She's alive…for now at least" he said. "What do you mean?" asked Brock. He bowed his head slightly, and said "She's been hived. She's obviously been infected by these things, and unless we do something, she's gonna give birth to one of those things." There was a pause. "Since I don't have anything in the medical kit against the alien, we only have one option" he said, his voice solemn. Ash didn't like where this was going. "What do you mean?" he asked. After a brief moment of silence, he said "We're going to have to kill her." Ash's, Brock's, and Pikachu's eyes bugged out as he said the last part. "What?" said Ash. "It's the only way! Either we kill her to end her misery, or she dies a horrible, painful death and gives birth to another of those things," he said, pulling out his magnum. Ash grabbed his arm, saying "No, don't kill her! Please!" Just then, the voice chimed in, with a tone of emergency, saying "Wait! Don't shoot! There is another way!"

Jack paused, and shook Ash off of his arm. He grabbed the talkie, and said "What other way?" "Take her to the research facility that I am in, near the colony. I have a medical bay for her to be operated in" she said. Jack thought for a moment, and then said "Forget it, she's about to burst." The voice relented, saying "She is not going to burst for a good while, she still has time! You need to get her here to save her!" Jack sighed, and said "Alright, fine." He took out his knife, and cut the bindings on Misty loose, and she fell to the floor, with Ash and Brock supporting her. "Okay, let's get out of here" said Brock. They grabbed her, and began to move her, or drag her, in this case, outside. Once they were back in the main hallway, they made their way back towards the entrance. However, before they got there, Ash's motion sensors began to ping. "I'm detecting multiple targets! Get ready for a fight!" said Jack, raising his gun towards the direction of the movement. Aliens began to pop out of the ventilation shafts, and advanced towards them. Jack began to fire at them in short, controlled bursts, like always, and Ash dragged Misty into a corner.

"Brock! Help me defend Misty!" he yelled, and Brock stayed put, taking shots at any alien he could see. Just then, an alien jumped at Ash, and he turned to face it. The alien quickly lashed out at him, and Ash was vigorously pushed backwards, into the floor. As Ash fell, the alien lashed out, but Ash fired the gun as he fell backwards, almost shooting his legs in the process. The bullets luckily hit their mark, and the alien hissed as it fell backwards, dead. Ash got up, and saw that all the aliens were already dead. "Come on, guys. We need to get out of here, it's too dangerous in here" said Jack. Once again, Ash and Brock grabbed Misty and began to slowly drag her out of the refinery. After a few minutes, they had made it outside of the refinery, and they began to move Misty further away from the refinery. Once they were out of range, Jack pulled out the talkie, and said "Okay, tell us where the colony is." After a few moments, the woman on the talkie said "Head east, towards the jungles heading to the large clearing next to the cliffs. The colony will be across the side from those cliffs, you'll need to go through some caverns." Jack took a look towards the east, and saw that there was, indeed, a large clearing next to the cliffs, but he did not see a cave entrance. "Let's hope we've got enough time. Alright boys, we're moving out" said Jack. "This is going to be a slow and long trip" he added, before starting to walk towards the alleged direction of the colony.

After about an hour into the walk, Ash was still carrying Misty. Suddenly, she began to stir. "Hey guys, I think she's coming to!" he said, and he set her down. They all went to her side, except for Jack, who still kept a careful eye on the surrounding jungle. Her eyes shot open, and she was gasping for air. She took a look around, and said "Wha-where am I?" Ash was about to comfort her, but Jack said "Great, she's awake. Come on, we've got to keep moving", and he kept walking, forcing Ash and Brock to haul Misty to her feet. She staggered, but kept walking, and asked "What's going on? Ash?" Ash talked to her, and began to break to her the news as carefully as possible. "Well, Misty…how do I say this without alarming yo-" "You've been hived by the aliens, and if we don't get you to a hospital nearby, you're going to give birth to an alien" interrupted Jack, being blunt as possible. Misty's face turned to shock. "What?" she screamed, but Jack chastised her, saying "Shush, don't scream, you'll alert every alien on this island!" "What do you mean, don't scream? If you've just been told you're going to give birth to an alien, you'd do the same!" she yelled in response. Jack was going to yell at her, but the voice came in, and said "Please, remain calm. High stress levels will only agitate the creature." Misty's temper cooled a bit, and she asked "Who's that?" "My name is Katya. I am…I _was_, the administrator of the island facility" said Katya.

Ash turned to Misty, and said "She's the one who's gonna help you." Misty calmed down, and said "Okay, but can we please hurry up?" Ash gave her a nod, and they all walked on, at a slightly faster pace. Before long, they had reached the cliffs, but they did not see any cave entrance. "Katya, where is the cave entrance?" asked Jack into his talkie. "Hold on one moment, please…" she said. After a few moments, the cliff's walls began to rumble. Then, two panels on the wall separated, revealing a gaping cave mouth. They all looked at each other with uncertainty, but pushed onwards. The cave was somewhat dim, so they had to use their mounted flashlights. Ash looked around, and felt that this cave looked very out of place. The cave walls didn't look natural, and he doubted that men made it either. He looked around, and saw that there were no stalagmites, or stalactites, and that the walls seemed to be very plain, and smooth. That is, until a bulge on the wall began to move.

Jack's gun immediately went up as soon as the motion tracker detected movement. He fired at the alien, but they were really hard to hit when they were on a wall, and moving fast. It suddenly stopped, and Ash centered his flashlight on the alien, and was surprised to find yet another kind of alien. Its domed head shined, as if made of glass, when the light reflected against its head. It then threw its head forwards, and a green spray of acid flew from its gaping maw. "Get out of the way!" Jack said, and Ash sidestepped the acid glob. The acid burnt through the stone itself, sizzling as it did so. Ash turned and fired at the alien, but his lack of training meant that his shots didn't hit their mark. Jack, however, was trained, and managed to hit the alien several times. These aliens seemed weaker, because only a few bullets were required to kill it.

More alien hissing was heard, and Ash turned to see another alien crawling towards them, climbing the walls with ease. He heard another snarl, and looked up just in time to see a third alien falling towards him. However, he saw Pikachu send an Iron Tail into its abdomen, sending it off-course. It fell to the floor near Ash, who shot at the stationary target with unsurprising accuracy. Ash turned to see Brock's shotgun tear off one of the limbs of the last alien. It was a bit funny to see the shotgun almost fly out of Brock's arms as he fired. It was a good thing that Jack had taught him how to properly aim and fire a shotgun. Misty came out from behind the rock she was cowering behind, a scared expression on her face. "Is it dead?" she asked. "Well, unless you think it can live while it's riddled with bullets and missing an arm, then maybe" said Jack, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Misty gave him a glare, showing her obvious lack of amusement, before they began to walk again. 'Now these aliens can spit out acid too? Simply perfect, this day could _not_ turn out to be any better than it already is' was Ash's thoughts as he walked. Suddenly, he saw some light coming out from a cave exit. "There! There's the exit!" said Brock, and they all began to run towards the light. What they saw, however, was something that none of them were prepared to see.

They ran outside the cave, and their jaws all dropped, even Pikachu's, as they stared at the large ruins before them. They were currently standing on a large set of stairs that led down from the large cave exit to the ground level. Elevated stone pathways weaved around the center of the ruins, a large stone platform with several stone arches on top. The elevated stone pathways seemed to sprout out of the central platform, and branch out into several small stone buildings, whose roofs were collapsed, revealing a set of stairs inside each one, leading down into the lower levels. "What _is_ this place?" Ash asked aloud, but his question was not answered. "Katya, where do we go now?" Jack asked into the radio. "You need to find your way into the elevated stone pathways that you see, and get into the next area" she said. "Okay, then" he replied. "Come on, kids, we've got to move" he said, before continuing to walk down the stairs.

The trio kept walking down the stairs, and they were soon forced to walk through the stone labyrinth that was the ruins. Suddenly, they heard the sounds of fighting. They didn't hear gunfire, but they heard aliens hissing, snarling, but amongst the sounds of aliens, there was a ferocious growling, and the sounds of metal striking a hard surface. Jack gave them a hand signal to stop, and the young trainers did so. "Wait here" he whispered, barely audible over the sounds of fighting nearby. He advanced slowly, and the sounds of conflict became louder; he could hear aliens screaming in pain, and the sounds of exoskeletons being broken, as well as blood spilling and acid burning stone. Suddenly, he stopped at the corner, and poked his head out from the side to see the combatants. He slightly gasped as he got a look at one of them.

He saw a large humanoid creature wielding a spear, but the spear looked like it was made completely out of metal, and it gleamed in the sunlight. The creature was enormous, it stood at about 7 feet tall, maybe taller, and had greenish or olive skin in some places, and paler skin in others. It wore what looked like fishnets on its body, but in some places it had metal armor, some on its torso and shoulders. On both of its arms, it appeared to have a large metal wrist bracer, but one of its bracers looked different from the other, probably having different purposes. Black tendrils that looked like dreadlocks sprouted from its head, except its scalp, leaving it bare, and each dreadlock decorated with rings and such. Right now, the creature was standing its ground, its spear in a ready position, against 4 aliens.

One of the aliens launched itself at the creature, which thrust its spear forwards, impaling the alien before it reached him. The creature quickly removed the spear from the alien, readjusted its grip on it, and threw it, catching an alien that was still in mid-pounce right through the chest. The creature then flexed its wrist, and out of its wrist brace, two blades were extended, each one sharpened to a fine point. The aliens both lunged at the same time, and the creature caught both of them by the neck. They each writhed in the creature's grip, but he held a death grip on them. He smashed one against a nearby wall, and the alien was immediately stunned. He grabbed the other alien with both his hands, and smashed its spine against his knee, breaking the alien's spinal cord. He quickly tossed the body aside and focused on the last alien. The alien was just getting on its feet again when the creature grabbed it. There was a brief struggle, before the creature swiftly snapped the alien's neck with a sickening _snap_.

Then, it twisted the alien's head several times, before Jack heard the sound of chitin breaking, and meat tearing. The creature pulled the alien's head and spinal cord partly out of its body, before cutting off the excess section of spine with its wrist blade. The creature then held the alien head in its hands, admiring the shine of the alien's dome in the sunlight. Jack dared to peek out of cover more, and the creature saw something move in the alien's skull's reflection. Jack saw the creature tense, and he pulled his head back into cover just as the creature completely turned around. He heard something drop, then a small sizzling sound, and then silence. He looked past the corner, and saw that the creature had completely vanished. Jack paused for a moment, and looked at his motion sensor, hoping to see any movement. There was none. He slowly signaled for the young Pokémon trainers to come to him. They came up to him, and they gasped in awe at the carnage around them.

"What happened here?" Misty asked. "Another creature just went and slaughtered these aliens" Jack said. "Do you know what it is?" Ash asked. "I don't know, but it seems that we've got another player here…" he replied. Just then, Katya's voice was heard again: "Please, I do not know what that creature is. Get out of there as soon as possible." They didn't need to be told twice, as they all walked past the dead bodies of the aliens, not knowing that two pairs of curious eyes were watching them. They found some stairs that led up into the central platform of the ruins, and they walked up them. They looked around, and saw that one of the elevated pathways led to a door that was placed on another cliff wall. "Hey, look!" said Ash, pointing at the door. "Must lead further into the ruins", said Jack. Just how extensive were these ruins? Regardless, they continued to walk onwards, towards the door. Jack walked up to the door, and pressed in the little "open" button on the keypad in front of it, but the door made an error noise. "Katya, we can't get through the door" said Jack. "Give me a moment…" was her reply. In a moment, the door slid up into the stone wall, giving them entrance. When they walked through the door, they gaped in awe as they stared at the giant pit below.

They were currently standing on a set of stairs that led down from the door in the wall to the lower level, the same level that the top of the pit was. The pit itself was very deep, and had several stone platforms, all at different levels, scattered around the bottom of the pit. The walls were at a steep angle, so that whatever was inside of it could not get out. There was a small building made of metal that was placed near the pit itself, with a metal sliding door composed of two panels that opened like a mouth, one panel on top, the other on bottom. From what Ash could see, the door's circuitry was damaged, since the bottom panel kept moving up and down. "Do you see the small building besides the large arena?" Ash heard Katya's voice come in.

"Yes, we do" said Jack. _'This is an arena?' _Ash thought. '_An arena for what?'_ "You need to get through that door. I do not have an access to the area you are currently in. You will need to get the key card inside." They needed no further directions, and they all walked down the stairs towards the building. Jack kept scanning the area around them. That creature from earlier took down four aliens singlehandedly in close combat. Any creature that could do that must be extremely dangerous. Just where had it gone, though? He didn't have time for trying to answer that question, as they had already made it to the door. Jack set his gun by the side of the door, and began to pry the door open. He grabbed the top panel, and slid it upwards. He met some resistance, but it was nothing he could not handle. Next, he pushed the bottom panel down. His motion sensor began to beep, and he heard something large and heavy land behind him. He turned around, only to be grabbed by the creature from earlier.

Jack gasped, and the Predator lifted him clear off the floor. Nobody had time to react as the Predator threw him to the side, into the arena. Jack heard Ash scream his name, and he felt himself fly though the air, before landing onto the slanted arena wall. He began to roll against the slanted wall, but he had the air knocked out of him as he landed against the arena floor flat against his back. He saw the Predator gracefully jump several feet into the air. His motion sensor pinged as it detected the Predator moving through the air, not that it really mattered anymore. The Predator landed on one of the elevated stone platforms, and turned to him. It unsheathed its wristblades, and growled in a challenge. Something must have triggered the arena, because as it growled, huge spikes popped out from the edges of the arena, reaching towards the sky like hellish claws. Jack quickly scrambled to his feet, preparing to fight for his life.

"Jack!" Ash screamed as he saw him sail through the air, half-falling and half-rolling against the slightly slanted arena walls before landing on the floor on his back. The creature then jumped across their platform to one of the platforms inside the arena with ease. The creature turned around, and growled in a challenge. As it did so, large spikes came out from large holes that were placed on the top edges of the arena, obviously to prevent the contestants from escaping. Ash rushed forwards to help him, but bumped into something large, and invisible. The invisible object revealed itself to be another one of those creatures. Ash gasped, Brock stared in fear, and Misty screamed in horror. Pikachu jumped towards the Predator, an Iron Tail already swinging it its direction. There was the clashing of metal, and Ash saw that the creature had unsheathed its wristblade, and had easily blocked the attack. Being quick to react, the Predator hit Pikachu with a backhanded fist, causing the little mouse Pokémon to fly to the side. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled, and the Predator turned to him. It raised its arm, wristblade extended, and swung it downwards towards Ash, meaning to cut his head in two. Ash backed away, raising his gun to block the attack. The wristblade cut _right through the gun_ with ease. Had Ash not been backing away, the wristblade would have cut him in half.

The Predator lashed out with its foot, kicking Ash in the chest, and sending him flying backwards. Brock gasped, and then his facial expression turned to one of determination. He rushed forwards with his shotgun raised like a club, and the Predator turned to him. Brock was immediately frozen on the spot, glued to his stance in fear. The Predator quickly took advantage, and grabbed his gun. The predator easily wrestled it out of Brock's grasp, and flung it over his back. Then, it grabbed Brock by the neck, and lifted him up into the air. Brock gave a strangled cry of surprise, and struggled in the Predator's grip. He looked into the Predator's masked, soulless eyes. The Predator made a clicking sound, and then brought its other arm up, the one with the wristblade. He prepared to strike, and Brock closed his eyes, waiting for death to be brought to him. But then, the Predator saw a large, black object move in the distance.

**A/N: Cliffhanger ending? "Why do you do this to us?" you may ask. Well, I like to keep my chapters about 7-8 pages. By then they're usually pretty long, around 5,000 words. Before I go on, yes, this Katya is the same one from the AVP 2010 game. Next up: Jack vs Predator, and Predator #2 vs Mysterious Black Object! Keep those review coming, guys! They are helpful to inspire me to continue the story! **


	10. Separation & Survival

**Chapter 10? I think this is some sort of milestone! Please enjoy!**

The creature snarled at the Predator, and then bounded off to another location. The Predator was quick to follow. Quickly dropping the human, who gave a surprised yelp as its body hit the floor, the Predator carefully stepped over the human's body. Then, it got to a running start, and leaped. The force of its leap propelled it far enough to get to the other side of the small chasm that separated it from the beast. When he landed, he took another running start, and jumped again, this time landing on the same level that the creature had just run off from. Once his feet hit the dirt floor, the Predator immediately went ahead and began to sprint towards where the creature fled. It switched the vision filter on its mask to seek out the alien's body signature. Sure enough, its vision was bathed in a green hue, and any alien in its field of view would show up a bright fluorescent green, incredibly hard to not notice. It scanned the surrounding jungle area, seeking out the creature.

Suddenly, a flash of green fluorescent movement in the cavern complex to its right. It turned, and headed for another section of the cave systems that ran through the mountains. It slowed to a steady walk as it entered the cave, being careful to not give its position away. These caves were dangerous, and no doubt that the creature would use the darkness and terrain to its advantage. It took one step forwards, and then another, and another. With each step, the soft dirt crunched underneath, and with every passing moment, things became tense. It was obviously waiting for him to walk into a trap of some sort; these creatures were not like some brute beast. The sound of water dripping off of stalactites and hitting the floor resonated throughout the cavern system. It only made it harder to be able to hear any telltale signs of an attack. Maybe the creature had decided to run away. If only that were true.

The Predator took one more step forwards, and as if setting of a bomb, a horrid screeching sound filled the air as the creature pounced at the Predator. The Predator barely had time to jump out of the way. It quickly got up, and turned to face its attacker, growling with shock and disgust as it looked at the alien. It was very large, bigger than the Predator itself. It had the basic characteristics of all aliens: four-fingered clawed hands, a chitinous exoskeleton that showed skeletal features, a long tail with a deadly barb at the end, and the domed head shaped like a rotting banana. However, this one also had tendrils on its head, resembling the Predator's dreadlocks, along with large mandibles on either side of its face, and it had greenish-yellowish hide instead of the sleek black color of the human-spawned aliens. This was an abomination, a parasite, a hybrid; it was a Predalien. The Predator changed its stance to attack form, slightly bending his knees, spreading his legs in order to jump if necessary, and his right hand - the one with the wrist blade - to his side, the blade tip facing the Predalien in case of needing to thrust quickly. Honor demanded that the beast be slain, and he was determined to retain it, no matter what the cost.

The Predalien launched itself at the Predator, who swiftly avoided the beast by jumping to one side. He turned again, only to see the Predalien pounce on him. It opened its mouth, and released its inner maw. The secondary mouth shot out like a piston, but the Predator was quick to react, and moved its head just enough to avoid being killed, but not enough to avoid getting grazed by the inner maw, causing a small chunk of fluorescent green flesh to be ripped off. The maw smashed into the ground, cracking a couple of teeth and creating an indentation on the floor. The Predalien roared in pain, and the Predator shifted its weight to push off the Predalien. He got up, and drew his spear just as the Predalien got up. It swung its tail like a club, which the Predator ducked to avoid, and responded with its own blow, a swing with the spear. The spear head grazed the dome of the Predalien, leaving a dark green trail of blood where the blade touched. The Predator readjusted its grip and threw the spear at the alien, cutting its side. The spear kept traveling, and hit the rock wall behind the alien, and dug itself in deep.

The Predator had drawn first blood, a good omen for the outcome of the battle. But the Predalien wasn't down yet. It charged at the Predator, and instead of pouncing, it lowered its crested head, pointing towards the Predator. Given the short distance, the Predator barely had time to blink as the giant organic battering ram struck him in the chest. The Predator's body flew backwards, causing the ground to shake as its body collided against the floor. It got up quickly, and was faced with the Predalien, now barely two feet away. The Predator swung its wrist blade at the Predalien's head, but the Predalien's claw caught the Predator's wrist blade on the side, effectively deflecting the blow, before using its other hands to strike the Predator in the face. The Predator's head rocked to the side as the Predalien's claws raked along the unprotected side of the Predator's face and kept going, also leaving deep marks on the mask itself. The Predalien quickly took advantage of the situation, and grabbed the Predator, lifting it clear off the ground, leaving its legs dangling for only a second, before slamming in back down onto the ground, putting its own weight into the slam as well. A small tremor accompanied the Predator's being slammed into the floor.

The Predator growled in pain, but it wasn't incapacitated just yet. The Predalien grabbed the Predator and threw him, sending him flying sideways, before he landed on his side. The Predator did a barrel roll to absorb more of the impact, before getting up onto his feet, into a semi-crouching position. He quickly reached for his side, and pulled out a shuriken. He pressed a button on the shuriken, and several curved blades sprung out, making the weapon look a lot like a stylized sun. The Predator threw the disc like it was a frisbee, and the Predalien jumped to avoid them. However, it could not move its tremendous body fast enough to avoid the flying blades moving at blinding speed, and it had one of the black tubelike structures on its back severed. It screeched in pain, taking note of the permanent reminder of its less-than-spectacular dodging skills when it came to high-velocity projectiles. It turned, and hissed at the Predator, who growled in retaliation. It roared, and charged at the Predator yet again, who, instead of avoiding the beast, rushed forwards to meet it.

Both titans slammed into each other, causing a resonating smack to echo throughout the caverns. The Predalien, being the larger, heavier, and altogether physically stronger creature, began to push the Predator backwards. The Predator could not move forwards, and its feet, even though they were locked in position, were scraping along the floor as the Predalien pushed it. The Predalien kept pushing, and eventually, it managed to pin the Predator against a wall, and slammed him against the wall. The Predator drew his wrist blade and slashed at the unprotected rib area of the beast. The blades hit at an awkward angle, so they did not penetrate nearly enough to do any sort of serious damage. It was enough, however, to make the beast flinch, so that he could regain his footing, and wriggle out of the death lock.

No sooner had the Predator turned around to face the beast again, the Predalien's tail smacked the side of the Predator's body, forcing it flying to one side a short distance before skidding over the dirt floor. The Predator got up on shaky legs, and stood to face its opponent again, who had begun to dash at the Predator, mandibles wide and roaring. The Predator turned and began to run. What may had been interpreted as a cowardly retreat was actually an advance in the opposite direction, on the Predator's part. It activated its wrist console as it ran, deeper into the caves, and it punched in some commands. He heard a whirring sound, and then a click, followed by a small beep. He turned around, and saw the Predalien pounce at him, claws extended. The Predator fired the plasma cannon he had just activated, and his shoulder shot back as the blue ball of energy flew at the beast in mid-flight. The plasma collided with the Predalien, and exploded, causing the alien to shriek, and fly backwards instead. It landed on its back, and skidded along the floor for a moment before finally coming to a halt. IT got up on two legs, just in time to be greeted by another plasma shot. This time, it only staggered backwards a step, after which it raised its head and snarled.

The red targeting reticule popped up on the Predalien's domed head, and it fired again. The Predalien dodged again, and this time was successful, having the blue orb speed past it. It roared, and charged again. The Predator began to walk backwards and fire at the same time, because if he ran, the targeting system would have difficulty aiming properly. The Predalien got hit again, but the shot struck its armored head, resulting in a surprisingly little amount of damage taken for the alien. The Predator was running out of options; if it got hit again by the behemoth, it would surely break a rib or two, and he didn't know how much longer he'd last against the beast. The cave "hallways" were getting tighter as well, so there would be no dodging in here. He looked up, and saw that a section of the roof of the cave had a shelf-like structure, with several large rocks on it. He fired one last plasma bolt at the shelf, and it exploded, sending several large rocks onto the two. The Predalien, instead of being crushed, as was intended, deftly avoided the rocks by stopping dead in its tracks and jumping backwards. The Predator shielded its face as more rocks fell, which were actually more than intended. The rocks kept falling, until the entire hallway was blocked off by rocks, separating the two. The Predator growled in frustration, and it pounded its fists against the rocks. By the sound of it, the Predalien wasn't too pleased either, yet not even it was strong enough to remove the several tons' worth of rocks anyways.

The Predator growled, but finally accepted the fact that his honor battle would have to continue at another time. It then sat down, and pulled out a medic pack he had in storage. He opened it up, and picked out some choice ingredients to make for an antiseptic goo that would help hasten his recovery for the wounds. He sorted them out, and began to mix the ingredients, finally hearing the Predalien's roars of frustration subside. The caves were left in an eerie silence as the Predator worked.

…

Jack stuck his head out from behind a pillar, and looked around, trying to spot the Predator. His motion tracker did not make any noise, so the Predator had to be either standing still, or out of range, which seemed to be improbable, due to the relatively small size of the arena. He breathed heavily, and retreated back again to cover, behind the same pillar. He shut his eyes, and wiped his sweaty and dirty brow, which was furrowed into a scowl.

"Jack!" he heard Ash call his name. He opened his eyes, and looked up at Ash, who was holding onto two of the arena's top spikes, like bars in a cage. he was a prisoner, a subject to this creature's twisted, sick game.

"Ash, get out of here! It's too dangerous!" Jack shouted. He looked again at his motion tracker, nothing. The creature had turned invisible upon activating the arena, and Jack was getting more paranoid every moment.

Ash shook his head, and said, "We're not leaving without you!", not noticing the laser-sighted aiming reticule, with a design consisting of three red dots arranged into a triangle, focusing itself on his forehead. Jack, however, did. He stuck out of cover, and traced the laser to its invisible owner. He aimed, and fired, striking the Predator on the shoulder. The Predator did not give as much as a grunt of pain as the heavy-caliber handgun tore into its arm, causing fluorescent green blood to slightly splatter. The predator looked at jack, and readjusted its aim to lock onto him. Jack's eyes widened, and he went back behind cover, barely being missed by the glowing blue plasma bolt that flew through the air, and exploded several yards away; it had been aiming for his head.

"Ash, it's not safe! You have to go!" Jack shouted again. "Go save your friend, I'll keep him busy! Just go!"

"Jack, you're not going to survive!" Ash shouted, now behind cover of his own.

"I'll be fine, just please get out of here!" Jack shouted. In his heart, though, he knew Ash was right. This wasn't going to be a fight, it was going to be an execution. That creature could rip a man's head off with his bare hands, had advanced, yet primitive-style weapons that could maul him easily. Armed with only a handgun and a knife, he would be fighting a battle losing battle. At least, he thought, he would be saving the lives of three young people. Besides, he didn't have much to live for anyways, he thought grimly. His friends were all but dead, or didn't know of his location, and his family… about the same. Ash looked at Jack in silent understanding, and backed off. Jack sighed in relief, but the momentary peace he had was broken when he heard the sound of something metal clanking against the stone floor.

He looked to his side, and saw his assault rifle; Ash had thrown his weapon down to him. Jack did not bother to look out the side of the pillar, he made a mad dash towards the weapon. He grabbed it, and stumbled a bit before going behind another pillar, just in time to see another plasma bolt explode on the floor where the gun used to be. He could feel the searing heat from where he was, but it did not burn him. It was enough, however, to make him put his arm in front of his face to protect himself from the bits of rock that showered upon him. He had a weapon now, but that wouldn't change the almost inevitable outcome of this battle.

He finally saw Ash and his friends leave, slightly limping, leaving him to fend for himself. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes, and saw the red aiming reticule in front of him, on the floor. He dashed out of the way, and avoided yet another of the blue plasma bolts, but it felt hotter than any fire he knew. He hid behind another pillar, and stuck his head out. He saw the Predator aiming again at him, invisible, but he fired off a few bursts at the Predator. The creature growled in pain as the bullets tore through its arm, causing more fluorescent green blood to shower out of its skin. Jack then ran again, sprinting towards another pillar, closer to the creature, keeping his head down to avoid any incoming projectiles. He got behind another pillar, and looked at his motion tracker. Sure enough, a blue-white dot appeared, and it floated to the side. He looked up, and saw the Predator on another ledge, closer to the floor, and it grabbed something from its belt. Jack ducked just in time to avoid the throwing disc. It struck the pillar, and rebounded to another direction. Jack ran, firing as best as he could at the Predator. The disc hit against another pillar, and began to fly at Jack. Jack heard the whirring of the blade, but not soon enough to be able to avoid it. The disc cut through Jack's armor just as he was turning. It went through his side, but it did not cut deep into him, mostly having just grazed his skin, but deep enough to draw blood.

He grunted, but kept running until he was relatively safely positioned behind another pillar. He looked around, trying to see if there was anything he could use to his advantage. There were pillars everywhere, some taller than the others, and there were only two exits, both of them blocked by spikes. The pillars were all made of stone, but looked stable enough to hold the weight of the creature, which was undoubtedly much heavier than he. A few containers which probably contained flammable liquids were scattered around for some reason; maybe there were researchers here studying the ruins? His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the motion tracker sense movement again, and he moved accordingly, safely at a distance. It would only be a matter of time before the creature got bored, and decided to rush him head-on. He poked his head out, and fired at where he thought the Predator was. It was mostly blind fire, since he could not see where the Predator was.

"_I see you,_" said a garbled, yet human voice. Was that the creature? He heard the sound of metal scraping, much like a sword unsheathing, and he ran forwards. The spear embed itself through the rock, the head not being visible. It must have been made of some sort of very strong, alien metal to be able to do that. Jack was only happy that the sort of weapons these things used were apparently very simple in purpose and design, but lethal nonetheless. He turned, and fired off some shots at the Predator, aiming for its head this time. Some of the bullets hit their mark, but bounced off the mask that the Predator had on its face. He cursed to himself, and retreated back into cover. The motion tracker detected movement again, this time only a few meters away. He peeked out of cover to see the Predator pull the spear free from the stone. He raised his gun, and fired. A flurry of bullets flew at the Predator, who jumped high, to another pillar, in order to avoid most of the shots, but not all. It growled in pain, and cloaked itself again. The staccato sound of gunfire echoed throughout the ruins, even the pinging of the bullets hitting the far wall could be heard as they missed their mark. At least Jack knew something: it bleeds, which meant that he could kill it. It also only has one spear, which is very swift and fast, so in the event that it misses him, the Predator would have to go back to get it. Then, Jack heard a thud, and knew that the Predator had jumped down from its perch. Jack removed the almost-empty bullet cartridge from his gun, grabbed another one, and slid it into place. It clicked in place, and he pulled back the firing pin, readying the gun for another firing session. Probably its last.

The blue dot got closer, closer, closer… Jack's heart rate was rising, pounding like a gloved fist inside his chest. Sweat trickled down his brow and nose, but he didn't wipe it off. Every sense of his body was trained to focus on any sign of the approaching Predator. He risked a glance at his motion tracker. 2 meters. Only two meters from death. He could hear the sound of footfall, and he forced himself to be quiet. The creature was now only about a meter away…the suspense was maddening, almost. Then, Jack ducked, and jumped out of cover, just in time to avoid the spear head that swung over his crouched head. The spear hit the side of the rock pillar, causing bits of stone to pepper out of the side, creating a dent in the rock as well. Jack raised his gun to fire, but only a couple of bullets came out before he found his gun getting knocked to the side by the spear. The Predator thrust with his spear, but Jack avoided it by stepping to the side, and took the opportunity to smack the Predator with the butt of his rifle. It seemed to have a shockingly low effect, and only resulted in the Predator's head moving slightly as the gun made contact, but nothing more. The Predator raised his spear over his head, intending to stab the man through the chest. Jack managed to avoid it, and the spear embed itself into the floor deeply between two slabs of stone. The Predator grunted as it tried to remove the spear, only succeeding in ripping the head off, and slightly bending the shaft. Now he had no spear.

The Predator quickly threw the spear aside and jump at Jack, who was trying to shoot the creature. The Predator managed to avoid getting hit for the most part, having only a few bullets scratch him in non-vital areas. It shocked Jack how fast this thing moved for something of its size and build. He barely noticed the Predator readying its arm to strike. Jack moved back, but the Predator managed to chop the gun with its wrist blade, and then swung again, hitting Jack in the side with its fist instead. It was enough to send Jack flying to the side several feet, before rolling along the floor. He finally came to a stop, and quickly got up. He saw his gun broken in two halves besides the Predator, on the floor. Now _he_ had no gun. He pulled out his magnum again, and fired a few shots. The shots were not very effective, and the Predator barely flinched as they struck its chest. It charged at Jack, wrist blades extended, giving off a feral growl as it did so. Jack took aim once more, and fired the magnum. The Predator suddenly growled louder, apparently being unable to vocalize properly with the mask on, and stumbled forwards. It wildly swung its blade, which Jack managed to evade, and it ended up striking the wall instead. When it turned towards Jack, he saw that the growl was more of surprise than of pain; the Predator's right eye-lense was cracked, obviously from the magnum bullet. Jack removed the empty magazine, and reached for another one. He was shocked to see that he had only one left.

Quickly reloading the gun, he fired off some more shots on the Predator. It growled, and rushed at him once more. Jack purposely aimed for the eye, the cracked lens specifically, hoping to shatter it, and penetrate its eye. As the Predator got close enough, Jack fired off his last shot. The Predator, once again, stumbled, and put its hands to its face, specifically its eyes. Jack looked on, hoping that he had actually penetrated its eye. He looked again, when the Predator removed its hands, and his eyes widened as he a saw that he had only managed to crack the other lens. He dropped his magnum, now useless. He had no more weapons, no more ammunition, it was a lost cause. There was no possible way to survive this battle. Then, he remembered his knife. He looked down to his side, and sure enough, there it was. It wasn't a standard-issue knife. It was very similar to the American Bowie Knife. Its blade was about a foot long alone, and its handle was made to be able to punch the enemy and stun it. It wasn't made of normal metal, either. It was made with a special alien metal, he recalled, and it was actually highly confidential. Only his unit had been given these knives, and they had been put to use many times, and they still retained their strength, and was still sharp enough to split a hair in two. He pulled it out of its holder, which was a lot like a sword's sheath, and examined it briefly. It had a grey metallic luster, and it could have been mistaken for a small sword of some sort, had it not been designed like a knife instead. He knew that he would probably lose a fight with this creature, even with such a wonderful knife. Yes, he had had special hand-to-hand combat training, even with the knife, but this thing was not some terrorist, and the creature was obviously practiced in blade combat.

He looked back at the Predator, who had, surprisingly, not done anything. It stared at him through its cracked eye-holes, making a sort of trilling sound which did not sound like any animal he'd ever heard. Then, it reached for something on its belt. It pulled out the same throwing disc as before. Jack readied himself, putting his knife in a fighting position. However, instead of throwing the disc, it simply dropped it to the side. Jack winced slightly at the sound of the metal object clanging against the floor. It reached to its back, and pulled off the harness that held its plasma launcher, and dropped that too. Jack let his guard down for a moment. Was the creature throwing down his weapons? Well, obvious he was, but why? Jack asked himself these questions as the Predator sheathed its wrist blade. Then, the Predator slowly reached up to the side of its head, where the mask made contact with the face, and pulled off a wire. A hissing sound was heard as the airtight lock was unsealed, and a small bit of fumes escaped the mask. It pulled off another wire, but there was less hissing of air as it was pulled off. The mask stayed attached to it face. Then, it got both of its hands, and reached up to its mask. It slowly folded its fingers around the edges of the mask, and pulled it off slightly, resulting in a popping sound. It pulled off its mask entirely, and its hand fell to its side, mask in hand. Jack could only stare in terrifying awe as the creature's grotesque face was revealed to him.

Its face, unlike the rest of its body, was a paler color, instead of the greenish-yellowish hide that it sported. Its most prominent, yet terrifying, features were the two mandible-like structures that it had on either side of what was presumably its mouth. They had claws at the tips, and they quivered slightly as it emit its trilling sounds. It had no nose that Jack could see, but it did have a mouth, which was placed in between the two mandibles. It was small, and had no lips, but it housed rows of sharp teeth on its lower jaw, while its upper jaw had two fangs which reminded him of vampire teeth. There were bristles along its eye ridges, resembling eyebrows, traveling over both of its two, small, orange eyes. Its eyes stared right at him, not with scorn, but with anticipation, like a hungry Meowth that had found itself suitable prey. Then, the Predator unsheathed its wrist blades once more, the sound of scraping metal audible from where Jack stood. No, this creature was not going to let him go. It merely wanted to have an entertaining battle.

The Predator finally dropped its mask to the floor, landing next to the throwing disc. Its brows furrowed into what would count for a scowl, and flared its mandibles. Its roar was loud, and long, echoing throughout the entire arena, and escaping out to the jungles. It charged at him, murder in its eyes. Time seemed to move in slow motion, his reflexes quickened dramatically as adrenaline began to pump throughout his entire body more powerfully than before. Every step that the Predator took was agonizingly slow, every breath he took made him feel like he was going to asphyxiate before the Predator got to him. It slowly raised its wrist blade high above its head, the blade catching light and shining in its grey metallic luster, looking possibly sharp enough to split a hair in two. It then began its slow descent downwards, in a wide arc, heading right for his head. He raised his knife, hoping to block it, but he knew that the jagged blade would cut right through his own, and possibly sever his entire arm, or his head, if he was lucky. The blade finally inched closer to his knife's edge, and Jack closed his eyes, awaiting for the sound of snapping metal, then the burning pain of flesh being cleanly cut through with the blade as it met minimal resistance, chopping right through his bone as if it were parchment. He only felt a huge weight get pushed onto him, along with the ear-splitting screech of metal hitting metal.

The shock of the blow forced his eyes open, and made him bend one knee slightly. He looked back at the knife. He gaped in awe as he saw that the knife had held. No, more than just held, his knife had managed to completely block a blade being wielded by a creature whose arms were the size of normal people's legs. He was almost too shocked to retaliate. Using all his arms' strength, and using his legs like pistons, he pushed upwards with his knife. The sudden return of force, along with the fact that the knife had managed to block its blade, caught the Predator off-guard, pushing its arm backwards, and forcing the Predator to take a step backwards in order to stabilize itself. Without even as much as a nanosecond of hesitation, Jack went forwards, and slashed at the Predator's midsection with his knife. His knife met resistance from its tough skin, but otherwise, the knife cut through the skin easily. The Predator growled in pain, and turned to meet Jack. Jack took a quick glance at his knife; it only had two minuscule dents where the two blades had struck his knife's edge. He looked back at the Predator; it was in a combat stance, its blade hand at its side, ready to slash at a moment's notice, and its legs slightly bent, ready to pounce if necessary. Jack smirked; maybe the creature would get its exciting battle after all.

…

Ash panted as he ran, but he kept running. He had to save Misty, he didn't know how much longer she would hold out. She didn't seem to be showing many signs of "bursting", but one could never be too careful. Things can go from fine to terrible in a matter of moments. Yet, he ran ahead of the people that he was trying to travel with. The sounds of their cries for him toe low down didn't stop him, he had to keep running. He wasn't the one who was in mortal danger, that would be Jack, yet still…he couldn't stay where he was. He just had to keep running, something pushed his legs forwards, each fall of his foot, each bend of his leg, until he tripped on a plant. He crashed to the floor headfirst, but he didn't get back up. Misty and Brock, who was carrying an injured Pikachu in his arms, ran to Ash's side. He was breathing, but it was slightly erratic, from running, it seemed. Upon closer inspection, they saw that Ash was crying. His shoulders shook slightly with every every choked sob, it was all he could to to keep himself from spewing out tears like a lawn sprinkler. Misty put her arm on Ash's shoulder.

"Ash…" she said, trying to soothe him.

"Leave me alone," Ash said, nudging his shoulder away from her arm. He stayed on the floor, a stray tear falling into the damp earth.

"Ash, we have to keep moving, it's too dangerous to stay here," Brock said. Ash sniffled, and sat with his shins to the floor.

"Same as everywhere else on this island…" he said. "We're not safe anymore! Don't you see?" he said, the despair in his tone obvious. "He was our only hope of getting around safely! Without Jack, we're as good as goners…" he trailed off.

"Ash, he'll be fine, he said so," Brock said. He tried to make Ash see that he saw wrong, but he knew that Ash had a valid point; Jack was a trained killer, being an ex-marine. He could hit a target at several meters with ease, and could handle decently in a close-combat situation with his knife. In fact, Jack had taken the most kills here out of all five of them, and had saved each of them in several occasions. It was then that they realized how much more real the danger had become. Before, it was definitely real, they could have died at a moment's notice. But now, without Jack, without any real protection, they were on their own. Three untrained kids with guns, and a single Pikachu for protection. This would not go well if they encountered hostiles, which, chances are, would definitely happen.

"Ash," Misty spoke again, still in a soothing manner, "we might not stand much of a chance out here, but we'll have a better chance if we keep moving. But most of all, we'll definitely have a better chance of surviving if we don't give up." Her voice was now more stern, and commanding: "If we were to just lay down and give up, we may as well put beef slabs on our heads and ring the dinner bell, because we wouldn't even be given a chance! But if we keep going," she said, pulling him up by his arm off the floor to the best of her abilities, "then at least we'll have a fighting chance."

"Ash," said Brock, "Please, think of home. Think of your family, and your friends back in the mainland! They'd be devastated if you never came back!" Ash had stopped crying by now, only having a wet nose, and small wet paths on his cheeks sprouting from his eyes. Ash got up, and looked at his friends. A frown was still plastered across his face.

"Jack's going to die there, isn't he?" Ash asked. Nobody wanted to answer that, afraid of what the result would be, but they all knew that Jack would probably die at the hands of the beast.

"I ran," Ash continued. "I ran, and I didn't help Jack. If I was a better shot, If I wasn't so scared, If I hadn't ran-"

"Then it would have killed you too!" Misty said, surprising herself with what she had just said.

Ash looked down at his feet. "Jack's going to die now, and it's all my fault." Tears threatened to return to his eyes. He shut them, hoping to contain his emotions, but he would ultimately fail.

Misty walked up to Ash. "No, It wasn't your fault," she said softly. "We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing could have been done to stop it, it just…" she trailed off. "Look, sometimes, life puts you into harsh situations, and it's your job to make the best of it. Clearly, you are not doing that right now." It seemed that her attitude had not changed the slightest bit since they came on this forsaken island. Nevertheless, Ash looked up, and smiled faintly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Ash, his voice hoarse from the crying, "as long as we stick together, we'll be fine. Right guys?" he asked. The two of them nodded in affirmation, and Pikachu gave a weak squeak of affirmation. Ash looked at his beloved Pokemon with worry. "Brock, will Pikachu be okay?" he asked. Brock looked down at Pikachu.

"Hard to say. The thing hit Pikachu pretty hard, but Pikachu's been hit by things just as hard before, right?" he asked the little yellow mouse. Pikachu smiled faintly.

"Pika…" he said, a bit more enthusiastic.

Ash grabbed his pistol from his side. "Come on guys," he said, "Let's make it out of this forest."

With that, the communications unit attached to Ash's helmet began to pick up a transmission from Katya: "What happened there? Are you alright? Your friend isn't responding to his radio signal." Somehow, she hadn't known of anything that had happened what seemed like moments ago. Ash looked at his friends, a stone like expression on his face now.

"We got separated, he…he was fighting off some creature while we ran. We think he's…" Ash couldn't bring himself to say "gone", let alone "dead", or any euphemism.

"I understand. It is imperative that you get here as soon as possible, I do not have any visuals inside the jungle, I cannot help you much more. Until you get to the research lab, or to a civilized area, I cannot help you."

Ash glanced back at his friends, worried and scared, but hopeful, most of all. "Right. We'll be there."

"Good luck. To all of you."

When the beep sounded, signaling her disconnection, Ash looked around him at his friends again. "Let's go guys, we can't stay here." With that, they all began the walk towards the direction of the research lab.

…

Jack winced at the pain of having just been sliced on his shoulder. It was a glancing blow, a scrape with the wrist blade against his skin, but it still cut him, and it stung, even if it was just a superficial wound. He didn't let his guard down, however. The Predator would immediately take advantage of the situation if he let his guard down. He took a defensive position again, as he had been doing so for the entirety of the battle, as he looked at the Predator. It had sustained several injuries; a gash on its right bicep; a cut just above its eye ridge; a slash against its flank; the list went on, but its abdominal area was the most notably punished; it appeared as if an artist had gone mad with the green paint on the canvas that was the Predator's abdomen, with a large multitude of slashes and still-wet blood on its stomach. The Predator seemed to be barely fazed by the cuts, and while Jack had managed to either deflect or avoid a majority of the hits, he was not without his own set of injuries. The cut from the spinning blade on his side, a cut on his eyebrow, and the newly opened wound on his shoulder. If he'd have many more injuries, he'd probably succumb to blood loss, and die slowly, painfully. Not that it mattered, anyways; he'd probably be dead soon enough.

The Predator seemed to be getting impatient. At any moment, it might decide to cut out the games, and finish him swiftly instead. Jack looked around; even if he was going to die, the ingrained sense of self-preservation kept him from just giving up and dying, but he still doubted survival. There were still pillars around them; he couldn't do anything about them, and he couldn't find much of a tactical advantage in them, either. Then, his eyes caught sight of something. It was grey, short, and was lying a few feet from the outer walls of the arena. It was Brock's shotgun.

He didn't look at it too long, for fear that the Predator might take advantage, or know of his formulating plan. He needed to get to the gun, but it was several yards away, and behind the Predator too. He thought up a plan. He began to circle the Predator to his right, slowly walking as to not alarm it. It did not move, but simply observed Jack's movements, calculating, aware, always cautious.

"Come on, come on…" Jack said to himself silently, as if fearing that the Predator could understand his language. Just as he was getting into an uncomfortable range from the Predator, it began to circle the other way as well. His plan was going well, so far. The shotgun was now in his peripheral vision, still several yards away. He could begin to walk backwards, and then turn to grab it when he got close enough. It was risky, but worth a try. He kept walking in a circle, and the Predator mirrored his movements, growling low in anticipation. Jack was now at the closest that he would be while circling. He began to walk backwards, and the Predator began to walk forwards to even out the distance. Just a few more yards….

The Predator looked behind Jack, and it visibly tensed. Its eye ridges shifted into a scowl, and it flared its mandibles slightly while growling; it saw the gun. After a split-second of hesitation, Jack turned and made a mad dash towards the shotgun. He heard the Predator behind him take a few thundering footsteps, before he dove to one side, avoiding having himself run through with the blades on the Predator's wrists. He landed, and lost the grip on his knife. He flipped himself so that he was lying on his back, and grabbed the knife with his right hand at the same time, to be able to see the Predator again. Unfortunately, it ended up with the Predator grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him up. He grunted in pain as his entire body was lifted off the floor by his neck, the claws digging into the back of his neck slightly. He looked into its muddy, amber eyes, full of malice and murder. He shot a quick glance to his side, seeing the gun only a few feet away by now. He looked back at the Predator, who was raising its right hand to strike him down. Jack's right hand let go of the hand on his neck in favor of raising his knife above his head.

Right before the wrist blade flew at him, Jack's knife sailed throughout the air the short distance before embedding itself into the Predator's neck. The blade must have dug in at least three inches into the Predator's neck; on a human, it would certainly be enough to hit a major artery, or another vital point, but on this creature, he wasn't sure. It was enough, however, to cause the Predator to roar loudly in pain. He twisted the knife to the best of his abilities, the blade doing more damage to the surrounding muscle and tissue, a sickening squishing sound as blood spurted out of the open wound. This was enough to cause the Predator to drop Jack, who left the blade inside of the Predator's neck. Clawed hands grabbed at the piece of metal in its neck, while Jack ran towards the gun, quickly closing the distance. The Predator got a good hold of the blade, and ripped it clean out, a small ribbon of blood following the knife as it left the Predator's neck. It growled, and turned to see Jack bending low, grabbing the shotgun.

The shotgun was military-grade, and probably loaded with either rifle slugs or buckshot. He knew this creature was abnormally endurable, given the amount of punishment it had taken so far, but the shotgun was the most powerful and versatile weapon he knew. No other gun would kill or disable an aggressor as easily at this range; if this gun didn't do it, almost no gun he had at his disposal would kill it. The Predator charged at him at a surprising speed, and Jack aimed down his iron sights. He focused on the speeding blur, and pulled the trigger. The shotgun was not one of his most used weapons, but he didn't feel the kick of the gun; adrenaline prevented him from doing so. The effect, however, could be seen and heard, with a large chunk of suddenly-missing flesh flying out of the Predator's body. It roared in pain, and ceased charging, the unrelenting force of the shotgun stopping the several-hundred pound creature in its tracks. Instead of staring in amazement at the stopping power of his shotgun, Jack took another step forwards, and fired again. The shot sped out of the second barrel of his shotgun, and tore off another large chunk of flesh as it did so. Again, the Predator stepped back from the force of the shot. Jack kept walking forwards every time the Predator was sent backwards, each shot taking more flesh from the Predator, who was helpless to do anything but take it.

The Predator had finally backed up into a pillar, and Jack fired off his last two rounds at the same time. The combined forces of the two barrels both shooting out the powerful slugs ripped a larger, bloody hole in the Predator's chest. The Predator roared once more as the force of the shot slammed it back against the pillar. Jack pumped the shotgun, and pulled the trigger again. He broke out into cold sweat when the only sound he heard was a click. The Predator put its hand to the large, gaping, bloody hole in its chest, and it looked at Jack. He was now out of weapons, out of ammo, and out of options. The Predator stood up on two shaky, yet still strong, legs, and looked down on Jack as the 7 foot tall behemoth towered over the 6 foot tall former marine. Moving quickly, the Predator had grabbed Jack again by the neck, and lifted him up again.

"Woa-", Jack's mouth had barely formed the words when the Predator tightened its grip against his windpipe, severely cutting off air flow. Jack's hands scrambled to pry the fingers free, but he was caught in its iron-like death grip, and it wasn't going to let go. His head began to feel tingly, and his flailing began to cease. He was losing oxygen, and the Predator wasn't giving him the quick death he had hoped for; it was going to choke him to death,to force him to die as slowly and painfully as possible, trying to make him pay for the humiliation and pain that it had gone through, and the decisively dishonorable method to kill that he had taken, using the gun. Jack's arms began to go limp, his left hand falling to his side, and the Predator began to trill in amusement. It was taking pleasure in his agony. How dare this…this _beast_ show emotion, and _amusement_ of all things! But Jack didn't have much choice in the matter. He was going to die.

Then, as his hand fell to his side, he felt them brush against a couple of round, hard objects on his belt. They were his grenades. Without thinking much, he grabbed one grenade, and pulled it out of its belt loop. He raised it to his mouth, and he put the pin to his mouth, where he bit down to the best of his abilities on the pin. The Predator looked at Jack quizzically, wondering what else this puny human could possibly have up his imaginary sleeves. Jack pulled the pin out of the grenade, and spit the pin out at the Predator's face. The pin harmlessly bounced off the creature's nose - that is, if it had one, and fell to the floor with a _ping ping_. Jack, shutting his eyes, straining to find the coordination to move his arm with what little oxygen he had left in his brain, pulled his left arm back, and rammed his fist, with the grenade inside, into the giant shotgun wound that the Predator had on its stomach.

The Predator roared in pain, and a small spurt of fluorescent green blood accompanied it as the grenade-fist was shoved deep into the bowels of the wound, with Jack pushing in as hard as he could possibly muster. He twisted his hand in an attempt to deepen the path of the grenade in his fist. He let go just in time to avoid pulling the grenade back out as the Predator flung him. He felt weightless for a moment, almost as if he were flying, like in a dream, until he landed on his back against the stone floor several feet away. He gasped for air, and his senses finally came back to him a few milliseconds later. He began to crawl away, backwards on the floor as he watched the Predator try to remove the explosive device. Its clawed hands dug deep into its own flesh, tearing, trying to pull out the device that it somehow knew was deadly. Just as the Predator's clawed fingers closed around the round, high-powered explosive, the grenade exploded.

Jack watched in horrifying fascination as the Predator exploded. The explosion was a mix of fire, blood, smoke, and small chunks of flesh that flew in all directions. Jack shielded himself to avoid being hit with a stray piece of debris. He ended up getting a small bit of green flesh on his shoulder, which he took no notice of. The explosion left a small ringing in his ears, and it was over as soon as it had began. He moved his arm out of the way of his eyes, and looked at the Predator- or rather, what was left of it. It was actually left mostly in one piece, with innumerable amounts of smaller pieces all around them. He had read somewhere that the typical adult human had about 5 liters of blood in their entire body. However, he had never seen so much blood in one place, yet everywhere at the same time. The Predator had burn marks on the skin around the bloody, burnt pulp that used to be its abdominal area. The explosion itself was sure to have ruptured or disabled several internal organs, probably vital. The Predator's hands hovered over its mortal wound, and it fell forwards, to its knees. Slowly, his hands clenched into fists, but its head dipped forwards, almost like a Japanese-style bow. Jack leaned forwards slightly, watching with utter fascination. He recoiled when the Predator lifted its head and roared at the sky. It extended its right hand out, hand reaching towards the sky, as if trying to reach some unreachable life-line that could save him. At last, the Predator's eyes closed, its eye ridges fixed into a permanent scowl, and its mandibles went slack, as did its body. It fell backwards, having lost balance as it reached to the sky, and landed on its back, dead.

Jack didn't give a sigh of relief, not just yet. He lay there, breathing for a moment, absorbing the reality of what he had just done. He had done the impossible; a creature a clear foot taller than him, superior to him in almost every aspect in terms of abilities, yet by luck, and a little skill on his part, he had survived. He couldn't be too sure; this thing had survived several mortal-looking wounds, and could easily be feigning his own death in a last-ditch attempt to get him close to be able to be finished off. Jack didn't get up, he was still trying to regain the oxygen that left him light-headed and dizzy. He watched the body, unmoving, still looking as vile and fearsome as it had been only a few seconds ago. Finally, when he deemed that the creature was dead, his entire body relaxed, and his head finally rested on the cool stone floor. He survived.

He was alive, for now, but he was still danger all around. One of those xenomorphs could be drawn by the scent of blood to…did they even have noses? Probably. Aside from that, he was still in danger. He had lost a bit of blood from his cuts, and he needed to keep moving. He got on his elbows, and searched around in his medical pack that he kept around with him at all times. He dug out the proper medical supplies that he had, and began to clean his cuts and apply bandages. They wouldn't be much, but they were all he had to heal himself. He also pulled out a stim pack. The stim packs were helpful, and useful in a pinch, but the increased heart rate he'd have, added with his already thumping heart, could overwork the muscle and kill him. He could either risk staying here, and being picked off by one of the aliens, or he could instead give himself the stim pack and risk dying from an overworked heart. He barely had enough energy to apply the bandages, and he didn't know how much longer he'd stay conscious. He decided to risk it, and pulled off the plastic cap on the pack. He flipped it, so that he needle was facing him, and held his body at an appropriate angle, before slowly pricking his high with the shot. When he felt the auto-release activate and the stimulant have reaction on his leg, he pulled out the needle tip. He casually tossed the shot to one side. He then finally took notice of the green piece of flesh on his shoulder, and flicked it off without so much as a second thought about the creature that it used to belong to.

He grabbed the bandages and antiseptic, and began to clean and dress his wounds. He could only hope that Ash and his friends were still alright, and that they had some sense to stick together, or that the aliens somehow miraculously became friendly, and left them all alone. _And while they're at it, they can give us some ice cold Pepsi to go with it_, he thought with amusement. Then, his expression changed to one of seriousness, and with a new sense of urgency, and false stamina, he quickly began to work on healing up his cuts.

**Sorry guys, I'm sorry that I haven't been updating recently at all! I just want to et you guys know: this story will NOT be put on hiatus, or discontinued ever. I just take a very long time for some reason to update this story, even though it's my only one. My excuse has been the AP exams I've had recently (I dare you guys to try and write 3 essays on any number of topics from the History of Europe from the Black Plague an on! It's hard!)**

**Aside from that, I tried to make it up to you guys for my long time of inactivity with an especially long chapter, coming in at around 9,040 words! My longest, and most action-packed, chapter yet! Leave a review to tell me if I did well or not on the battle scenes, or If you just wanna give criticism, that's fine too! **


	11. The Fourth Variable

**Well guys, it's finally summer break for me! I will have more free time, so I will make every effort to write as often as possible. I want to finish this up at some point, so let's not waste any time! Regarding the story, Jack only got lucky at the end. I was going to kill him, but not yet, I have plans for him… Anyways, enjoy this chapter! Fun fact: I am going to be using a Mac to write the rest of this story.**

Far away from the ruins, where all the previous events had just happened, and deep underground, past a series of old coal tunnels, a giant building loomed. Its mere presence was foreboding and powerful, yet its features betrayed its age. Being deep underground, away from the harsher elements on the surface, aided this. However, the ancient building was not undisturbed; signs of activity were present, such as light stands, generators, and even sentry gun turrets with flashlights mounted on the gun barrels. Things were mostly quiet, with the exception of the whirring mechanics inside the sentry gun that worked as the gun scanned the surrounding area. Further into the building, which seemed to be a mix of ancient architectural designs, the stone walls held strong, guarding its secrets from the world. On the walls, there was depictions of gods, glory, and sacrifice. Serpentine creatures were being slain by powerful godlike humanoids with advanced weapons. Art and architecture was abundant in here. A group of scientists was studying the hieroglyphics in the ruins. However, there were relatively few here in comparison to deeper into the structure. Deep into the heart of the structure, more scientists, including some engineers, were working around a large door. This was no ordinary door, however. It was very large, and it was also opened, revealing a new chamber. The teams of scientist were studying the ruins, and the engineers were keeping the structural integrity of the building in check. Such an old building, no matter what conditions, is bound to have been weakened under its own weight over time.

Even deeper into these ruins, a single chamber stood. It was square shaped, and had steps leading up to what seemed to be a sarcophagus of some sort. Statues of kneeling Predators flanked the stairs on both sides, indicating the importance of the sarcophagus to the species. A man was looking over a computer, looking over the cameras that oversaw the entire operation in the ruins. Scientists were working in many different parts of the ruins, some on the first floor, others in the deeper sections instead. His hirelings kept the scientists in line, making very effective use of the fear factor involved with wielding a machine gun. The man's face appeared aged, with the defined wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes,and his light brown hair was ever so slightly greying. His hazel eyes were strong and resilient, characteristic of a man who was used to taking charge, and imposing control over others. Everything was going splendidly, but the scientists could probably be working a little faster, in his opinion. A guard came walking up the steps towards him. His strides were even and paced, almost like he had practiced his walking, and his mask hid any sign of life in his face. He stopped when he got beside the older man.

"Sir," he began, his voice monotonous and emotionless, "there have been signs of activity in sector 3-C. Unidentified targets have been spotted." The man looked up from his work, obviously displeased at the interruption.

"3-C? You mean the outer ruins? Who would be there?" he asked to himself. He turned to his side, where another man was working on a computer. "Is there any record of scientist making runs over in the outer ruins sector? Sector 3-C?" he asked the man.

The man began to punch in some numbers, and shook his head, saying "Negative, sir. They must be colonists," he said.

The older man shook his head, and said, "No, it can't be. They've been gone for a long time now. If there were any still out there, they would have either been killed or found by now."

"Wait," said the man at the computer, "I have some video footage from some time earlier." The older man went over to his computer, and looked at the video footage. From what he could see, a somewhat young man, possibly in his mid 20's, was working on a computer in a dark room. There were about two other figures behind him, but they were both shorter than him, and not to mention looked much younger; a boy with black hair in a wild hairdo and sporting a red-white cap, and a slightly taller darker-skinned boy next to him.

"This is the old research lab," the older man said. " how is there footage there? I thought we shut it down."

"It appears that they rerouted power into the system, and activated the cameras."

The older man looked back at the video footage. "Well who are they? What are they doing here?" Their garb was suspicious: They were all wearing some sort of makeshift armor, and had guns on them, even the young boys. It looked almost comical, seeing the two younger boys carrying military-grade weapons… wait a minute. Military-grade?

"They must be from the military!" the older man said. "No colonist had ahold of such weapons,because they weren't allowed on the island, and they must have sent for help somehow." He looked back at the video footage. "And apparently, they lowered the age requirement for enlistment, if they've got kids with guns." Now, the older man at the computer was speaking, but it didn't seem directed to the two boys behind him. "What are they doing there?", the older man wondered aloud. He was not angry, nor displeased at the intrusion, but, of all things, curious.

"Hold on, they're speaking," the older man spoke again. "Enhance the volume, quickly!"

The man at the computer did not give an affirmation, but did as he was told without skipping a beat. The hearing was a bit strange at first, but he adjusted the sound levels until they were at optimal hearing levels.

"-ld research lab? So I'm guessing that there's another one?" said the man. Then, silence. He had his finger to his ear, he was obviously speaking to someone on another channel. "He wanted to be able to control them for his own personal gain?" said the man, sounding visibly surprised, shocked even.

"So they've come to find out the plans…" said the man. "This simply will not do, no, not at all…" If the higher authorities found out, then nothing, no amount of money, could pull him out of whatever situation he'll be in. What was being done here was actually very illegal, and mostly unknown. He had bribed a few people, the right people, and managed to get enough strings pulled to be able to have this. If the plans were discovered now, then all his hard work would go to waste. What he was doing here was not only for himself, but it was for the good of all humanity! Why would they want to try and stop him?

The guard spoke up again: "What would you have me do, Mister Weyland?"

The older man smirked, and said "How about we give them a warm welcome? Seize them, and I'll decide what to do with them later."

"Yes sir," said the guard, who then turned around and walked away.

Karl Bishop Weyland leaned back on his chair, and sighed. Things were about to get more interesting, he thought.

…

Ash and his friends advanced forwards as fast as a bolting snail. They did not want to go any faster, because faster would mean more ground covered. More ground covered meant a higher chance of being detected, especially while moving. They all knew it was probably useless, but what was the worst that could happen if they tried? Death, of course, was one possibility, it was always a possibility. They realized how vulnerable they really were without Jack, without a trained professional who wasn't afraid of killing, or death, and was trained to hone his body into a lethal human weapon. Now, they were just kids armed with guns. The whole jungle seemed to become more immense, more deadly, and they felt even more vulnerable. Such a large space, such a large chance of dying… in this situation, survival instincts were not enough. You needed to be able to think rationally, thing with reason, lest you run the risk of getting you or someone else hurt.

"Ash," Brock whispered, "Maybe we should move a little faster? I mean, the longer we stay here, the longer Misty is going to have the thing inside of her." Ash sighed, because he knew he was right. He looked over to Misty, who occasionally gave a grunt of discomfort, but thankfully nothing too big so far. His previously mentioned logic was frayed, and this option was also high in its risk factor, but granted, it was probably better than advancing at a snail's pace.

"Okay, just try to keep quiet," Ash whispered. With that, they all began to walk forwards just a bit faster, then, after a moment of hesitation, a little faster. They tried their best to walk quietly, which was aided by the dirt floor cushioning their footfall. However, they had difficulty going past ferns that just refused to shut up whenever they brushed past their leafy arms. Just then, Ash tripped on a rock, and let out a surprised yelp before face palming the dirt floor. Misty and Brock went over to his side to help him up.

"Even when we're in a jungle _deathtrap_," Misty said, "you can't keep quiet!" Ash got up and glared at her angrily.

"Yeah? Well you can't seem to stop complaining about me whenever I make a mistake!" he quietly shouted.

"Humph," she said, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "Just watch where you're going next time, so you won't trip on a-" she said, and her eyes widened as she looked at the rock. The other boys looked towards the rock, and saw what frightened her. Their reaction mimicked hers: utter shock. It was, in fact, not a rock. It was a bone, cracked and weathered, but unmistakably a bone. It was concealed by a small bush, but it was there, a bone. By the looks of it, it was not a human bone. It was large, long, and had a clawed tip; a Pokemon's finger. No human body part could harbor such a sharp nail. Just then, Pikachu sniffed the air, and bounded off to one direction. Just as Ash was going to ask what he was doing, Pikachu pushed aside some plant matter, revealing a horrendous scene that made all three trainers pale.

It looked like a twister had ravaged this area; leaves were thrown all around, bushes were crushed, and tree trunks had large scratch marks. One of them, a thinner tree, was toppled over to one side, as if a large object had been thrown against it. What really made them stare in horror was the two bodies that were thrown along the floor. One of them was an alien's, it was evident from the obviously banana-shaped skull and bullwhip-like bladed tail. However, its body was contorted, and its chest area was smashed in, as if hit by a very powerful object. The other one, however, was apparently at one point a large Pokemon. It had large, thick bones, and had a couple of snapped ribs. One of its forearm bones was broken off at the wrist, which is probably where the finger bone had come from. Ash walked up to the Pokemon's body, and looked it over. It had large arms, and shorter legs. There was still a small amount of body matter left on its body, but it was old and decaying. There was little to no skin left, and what skin was left had no color, but he could see that it had fur on it.

"Oh no…" he heard Brock say softly. He turned to him, and saw him crouched over its head, specifically inspecting his skull. "This must have been an Ursaring…" he said. Ash was shocked; the alien had killed an Ursaring? Ursarings were very powerful and dangerous Pokemon, and should always be regarded with caution, even to the trainer. They were usually unpredictable, making it even more of a dangerous Pokemon than others. There was only one alien body, and only one Ursaring body. Ash wasn't a detective, and there weren't many clues to deduce what happened, but he could guess a few scenarios: the alien attacked the Ursaring, and they had killed each other in mortal combat, where other aliens later came by and ate the corpse, explaining the detached hand; a pack of aliens ganged up on the Ursaring, which managed to kill one of the aliens before going down; the Ursaring managed to kill the alien, but succumbed to its injuries soon afterwards; these were the few that he could think of. However, one fact remained: they had managed to subdue and kill one of the most dangerous Pokemon that was native to these forests. This was not only horrifying, but it was also a major blow to their own morale. Anything that was powerful enough to kill a full-grown Ursaring was to be regarded as dangerous. They had already know that these aliens were dangerous, but now, after this…

Ash turned to his friends. "C-come on guys…we can't stay here…we need to keep moving."

They eyed the corpses, battered and decaying, one last time, before finally pulling away from them, and walking away.

...

Jack trudged along, limping slightly as he did. The last fight was terrible, no matter how he looked at it. He had been wounded, and bruised all over. He was still alive, but even that could probably have been better. He could of had the sweet relief of death over living with such pain, and… no. He had to stop thinking like that. Self-preservation always wins in the end, right? It's no fun to kill yourself, either. If you're gonna go down, then go down kicking and biting and screaming, that was what he was taught. He grimaced as he felt the wound at his side, the piercing pain coming in at intervals. The stim pack was helpful, but if he took to many, he could overwork his heart. Addiction was another probable result, but that would only be if he lived that long. Focus, man. Stay alive, keep moving. The kids are in danger, they need your help.

As much as he hated to admit it, they were pretty defenseless by themselves. They had been through many small encounters with the aliens, and in each one of them, Jack was the one to kill most of them. That was why he had made them take surplus ammo for the assault rifle, his main weapon of choice. This only propelled him forwards. Then, he began to ask himself: Why is he doing this? _Because you agreed to, dumbass,_ he thought to himself. But why did he agree? He could have stayed back in the shack like he had been doing so for…how long had he been on this island? It seemed like too long. Even if that other kid, Brock, had gone with Ash, leaving him alone, he would have been just as well off. But instead he went. Why? Did he miss the comfort of human company? Who was he doing this for? For Ash? For the girl? For his own sanity? For Tony? His thoughts were cut short as he caught sight of displaced underbrush. A fern had been stamped on, revealing a light, but noticeable, shoe imprint of dirt on it. Indentations in the damp earth the shape of a shoe sole followed it.

"Well, it's a start," he said to himself. "But now where-"

_BANG_

The sound of an assault rifle firing off a single shot made him duck for cover. He dove into a fern, and stayed put. He looked at his motion tracker, but it didn't pick up any movement. He listened carefully for any more sounds of gunfire, but heard nothing. Only the sound of his breathing was audible in this deadly-silent forest. It was either a warning shot - which was unlikely, given the currently null population on the island - or the kids found some aliens. There were no other shots going off, so the kid must have either shot by accident, or for some other reason he did not have time to deduce. He hurriedly walked towards the displaced underbrush, and the sound of the shot, hoping to be able to catch up to them before they got too far away.

...

Ash and his friends were still walking in the general direction of the research lab. Despite their hurried pace, they still hadn't covered as much as ground as they would have liked.

"Ash, how much father away is it?" asked Misty, who was looking around nervously. Ash kept walking, looking around. "Ash!" she insisted, prodding his shoulder.

"I'm not sure, but I can guess that it won't be much farther away now," he said, not looking at her. It was unnerving to her how quickly he was adapting to the situation. This wasn't the playful, happy Ash that she knew. This Ash was more serious, and more alert, but more careful as well, unlike the clumsy Ash she had always known. It worried her a bit. Indeed, they had all been forced to mature much faster than would be considered normal, but even for Ash, this was strange. Her thoughts were cut short as she heard a faint beeping sound

"What's that beeping noise?" she wondered aloud. Ash looked around, then began to scramble around his pants. Misty only stared in curiosity, until he pulled out a strange-looking device. "What is that?" she asked.

"A motion sensor," he said, looking at the screen. It wasn't showing any movement at the moment. "It beeps when it senses movement, and the beeping you heard was from this, but I don't-" he said, but was interrupted by the motion sensor picking up more movement. He turned, and his hand instinctively reached for his Pokeballs at his side. Despite the balls being mostly broken from the initial crash, and the fact that the xenomorphs were more dangerous than most Pokemon, he still had the natural reflex to reach to his Pokemon when in danger. His hand finally moved to the pistol still gripped in his left hand, and brought it up, to a firing position. He was still scared, but no longer confused. Pikachu got into a combat position, on all fours, electricity sparking out of his red cheeks.

Footsteps were audible by now. However, they were not belonging to a Xenomorph, considering the speed of the footfalls: slow and even, more like a human. They kept their guns up however, and kept them aimed at the general direction of the movement. Finally, a figure came into view. Just as they had guessed, it wasn't a Xenomorph. It was a human, from what they could see, and it was armed: it had an assault rifle, which was aimed at them, and a heavy-caliber pistol at its hip. A mask covered its facial features, and a plethora of different pieces of equipment adorned it like a human christmas tree. It was as tall as Jack, and looked as deadly too. From beside him, two more soldiers appeared, wearing the same exact gear as the others.

Finally, one of them spoke: "Identify yourselves." His voice was monotonous and emotionless, but held a certain sense of authority. It was almost scary.

Ash looked at his friends, before looking back at the men, and answering: "Ash Ketchum, Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town." Misty and Brock followed suit, a bit hesitantly at that. The men did not give any sign of acknowledging their responses. They just seemed to stand there, guns positioned to kill, but not doing anything at all. Finally, they moved, and lowered their guns. The leader stepped forwards.

"Please follow me," he said. Then, he turned around, and began to walk away. Ash looked at his friends quizzically, a silent message being given off: "Should we trust them?" Misty nodded, and Brock did too. These people had guns, and were human, so they must have a base of some sort, and a base means more people, which means safety. Remembering about the Ursaring, Ash decided to go with the men, and ran after them, saying "Hey! Wait!" Brock and Misty gave each other unsure glances before following.

The man kept walking, paying no heed to the small boy running next to him, and talking to him.

"Hey! Who are you guys? Are you soldiers? What are you doing here?" Ash asked these questions and several others, but each one got the same result: no answer. The men - all three of them - refused to answer any of their questions. Finally, Misty had enough of it.

"If you guys don't talk to us, then I'm not moving!" she loudly declared, stopping right where she was. This seemed to get a reaction out of the man, who turned towards her very suddenly.

"Please follow us," he said in his emotionless voice.

Misty shook her head firmly, saying "No! Unless you guys tell us-"

"Follow us," he said, raising his gun. It was a command this time. Ash got in front of Misty, putting a protective arm in front of her.

"Don't touch her," he said in warning. The man didn't seem fazed the least bit at all.

"If the subjects do not cooperate, we have been given orders to eliminate them." The man's backup raised their guns too, in a completely threatening manner. Ash recoiled in fear, but didn't back away. Instead, he set his expression, and grabbed a Pokeball from his pocket. He pressed the button on one of them, and it grew to full size, about the size of a baseball, perfectly fitted for his hand.

"Bulbasaur!" he said, getting into a pitching pose, "I choose YOU!" he said, and threw the Pokeball like a baseball at the man. The Pokeball flew across the short distance, before hitting against the man's chest. It bounced off, and hit the floor, rolling a few feet. Ash simply stared at the Pokeball. It fizzled with electricity, and let out a bit of smoke, before finally remaining inactive. He gave a sidewards glance to his companions, before giving them a sheepish smile.

"Well…it was worth a shot."

The man did not seem amused. He raised his gun, and pulled the trigger once. A single bullet found its mark in Ash's helmet. Ash gave a surprised yelp, before falling backwards. Misty squealed in fear, shouting "ASH!" Both of them rushed to his side, trying to see if he was still alive. They were surprised to find that he had been completely unharmed. The bullet had clipped his helmet, going completely through it, but it didn't hit his head. Despite the protective qualities of the helmet, the bullet had surprisingly managed to go completely through it. It must have been extremely good quality to go through a military grade helmet.

Pikachu turned to the man and readied a Thunderbolt, which caused the man to aim at Pikachu in response. Ash quickly got up, and got in front of Pikachu, putting his arms in front of him. The man didn't fire another shot, but instead, he repeated himself: "Follow us." He turned around, and began walking, but this time, the two other men nudged each of them with their gun's barrel. They got up, and Ash quickly picked up Bulbasaur's Pokeball before moving on, having to abandon his helmet along the way. It seems that now they were safer from the Xenomorph threat, but they were now being held captive by some dangerous men with guns.

Brock walked closer to Ash, and whispered: "Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure."

"They said they had orders. From who? They had to have gotten their orders from someone."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Ash said, looking towards the man leading them.

Soon enough, a large metal building was seen in the distance. More buildings came into view, all arranged in an orderly fashion, and all designed similarly. They were fairly plain, with a lot of them having large glass windows, metal doors, and some were two stories tall. The three soldiers led the trainers towards one of the buildings, with the commanding soldier ordering the other two to guard the subjects. The two of them wordlessly followed his command, and stood so that the three trainers were blocked against one side of the relatively small room, without escape.

The man then put a finger to his ear, and began to talk: "Sir…we have them…subjects unidentified: Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum, from Pallet town, Pokemon Trainer Misty, and Pokemon Breeder Brock…No, sir…in the Colony sector, Sector 5-D…"

So they were in the Colony, then? Then that meant that they were close to the Research Lab! If only they weren't trapped like rats in a small metal box! Wait a minute, Misty! Ash turned to look at Misty, who was still rubbing her stomach area, and giving off small grunts of discomfort. If they didn't get out of here soon, then Misty would probably…burst.

"Guys," Ash whispered, "we need to get out of here! The thing inside of Misty is going to burst if we stay here too long!"

"How far away is it?" Misty asked.

"Not too far, we're in the Colony, which is not that far from the Research Lab, where Katya is going to take it out of you," he responded.

"Oh, if only Jack were here!" she said. At this point, even Ash believed that Jack couldn't even get them out of here, if he was still alive, which was unlikely by now.

Just then, a noise was heard, like something clanging against something else, and the guards raised their guns in alarm. They scanned around, but detected nothing. One of the guards went outside, his gun raised, and the other stayed put. The commander went back to his conversation: "…yes sir…understood." The man finished talking, and turned to face the kids.

"I've been given orders to dispose of the witnesses."

Ash's eyes widened with fear, and he backed up. The man raised his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, the other guard stopped him, pushing the gun out of the way.

"Wait," said the guard. "Look at the girl."

Misty was beginning to show some more discomfort than before, to the point that it was a bit more noticeable.

"She's been implanted by a Xenomorph," said the guard. Misty nodded to the guard at the statement. The other guard looked at Misty, then lowered his gun. He then put his finger back to his ear, and began to contact his superior officer again.

"…Sir, one of the trainers appears to have been implanted by a Xenomorph…they are showing signs of discomfort, and they admit to have been implanted by a Xenomorph… yes, sir."

The guard once more put his finger away, and turned to his assistant.

"Get the girl."

Misty's eyes widened in fear, and she began to back away, walking backwards, but ended up backing herself up into the wall. She had been cornered for good. Ash and Brock got in the man's way, trying to push the man away. The man shoved them aside, and grabbed Misty, who protested loudly. The man began to pull her away by her wrist, and Misty was clearly trying her hardest to resist, but the man seemed to be unfazed by all her resistance. The man had finally dragged Misty away, and Ash and Brock were helping each other up. They both looked at Misty, being held in on spot by the man, and the other soldier, who had his gun trained on them both. Just then, a machine gun was heard firing wildly, and the other guard outside shouted: "Contact! Contact! Con-AGH".

The man was silent after the sound of spilling liquids was heard. The guard that was prepared to shoot them looked to the outside, giving them an opportunity to escape. Pikachu used Quick Attack, and knocked the gun to the side, before attacking the man himself with a thunderbolt. The man was paralyzed by the shock, but he made no sound of pain. The other man raised his gun to shoot them. Suddenly, they heard the sound of something flying through the air very quickly: _SCHING. _The guard's head flew clean off his shoulders, and a vicious-looking throwing disc was embedded into the side of the wall. The man's head rolled to the floor, and he began to bleed…white? Why was the man bleeding white?

The first guard regained mobility, and stumbled a bit, before getting back on track. He looked up to see Ash and Brock running at him. They tackled the man wildly, but only succeeded in making the man take a step back, before he pushed Ash off of him. When Ash was off of him, the man sent a fist into his stomach. The man turned around and sent an armored elbow into his chest, sending him staggering backwards. The man was hit by another Quick Attack by Pikachu, but again, he only stumbled, and managed to kick the annoying little rodent towards his owner.

Just then, Ash saw a distorted, yet see-through figure in the doorway. It was humanlike in appearance, and very tall. His eyes widened. It was the creature that had killed Jack. The creature undid its cloak, and it appeared before them all, unsheathing its wrist blades. It threw something at the guard with the gun, who was sent flying backwards from the impact. When the man finally fell down, Ash could see a sort of throwing disc embedded to his chest. Ash looked up at the Predator, who was now looking at them. It then began to walk towards them in a menacing sort of manner, intent on killing. Ash's eyes widened, and then shut closed, in anticipation of death.

Just then, he heard something smacking against a solid surface very hard, and a grunt of pain from the Predator, who then began to growl. Ash opened his eyes, and gasped when he saw that the other guard, the one that had gotten decapitated, was holding the gun like a club, and fighting the Predator. How was the man fighting without a head? He looked to his side, and saw that the other guard was pulling out - or better said, trying to pull out - the disc from his chest, with no avail. Finally, the guard got up, and began to fight the Predator too. Misty, who had fallen down when the man got decapitated, scurried over to Ash, and helped him up.

"Come on, let's go!" she said, pulling him up by his arm. Ash got up, and helped Brock up too, before scooping up Pikachu and running out of the building in a hurry.

"What _were_ those things?" asked Misty, "one of them got his head cut off, and he still kept fighting!" She was running with a hand on her chest, and breathing heavily. Whether it was from the monster inside of her or the near-death experience she had just been through, Ash was not sure of. But one thing he _was_ sure of: those guards were not human. Firstly, they bled white fluids, which was not normal. Second, they didn't feel pain, or have vital organs. Third…well, he could continuously list the things that made them inhuman, but it wouldn't be necessary, since they had all the proof they needed. They continued running, until fatigue caught up with them. They sat down, and took a break.

"Guys," Ash said, "we have to go back." They all looked at him as if he had grown a third head, which, given all the things he had seen so far, wouldn't have surprised him if he had.

"Ash, are you crazy? You saw those…those _things!_ Either the guards or that creature will be there, and either one will kill us anyways!" Misty yelled.

"The colony was the only reference we had to the Research Lab! We don't have a map, and we need to get to the Lab as quickly as possible, which is through the colony!" Ash replied, yelling back at her.

"Guys, guys, calm down!" Brock said, playing the role of diplomat. He put a hand on each of their shoulders, yet they kept glaring at each other. "Misty, Ash may be right here. We-"

"HAH! See, Brock agrees with me!"

"Ash, I'm trying to make a point here! Now-"

"Yeah, Ash! Let him talk! He might change his mind! Right, Brock?"

"You two aren't listening!" Brock said loudly, prompting them to shut up. "Now, Ash may be right that the Colony is the closets path to the Research Lab, but Misty is also right when she says that it'll be dangerous. But if we don't take risks, then we might not get there in time, and the alien would burst out!" Brock now crossed his arms, giving them each a scrutinizing glare, before adding, "If we're going to survive here, we _need_ to work together, and not argue amongst ourselves like little kids!" He put his hands on his hips now, acting much like a displeased mother. "Are we _clear?_" he asked.

Ash looked at Misty, who looked back, and then looked away. Ash grunted in disapproval, before looking back at Brock, and nodding. Just then, Ash turned around to walk, but stopped when he heard Brock's strangled cry.

…

Jack began to run when he heard the sounds of gunfire. It wasn't the kids' gunfire, which was erratic and always lacked short-controlled bursts, like he had told them. This gunfire was more precise, and more orderly, as well as firing in short bursts. That meant that someone else was firing a gun, and by the sound of it, they were trained, and had backup. He jumped over a small fallen log, and stumbled on his left leg. He cursed to himself, his leg not having headed enough from the battle with the Predator. He stopped for a moment and held his leg, sighing loudly. Then, his head shot up, and he focused on hearing the gunfire. It had stopped.

Forgetting the pain in his leg, Jack kept running. Either the kids got shot, or the shooters lost sight of them. He hoped that it was the second option. He walked and walked, hoping to not have been too late. Then, he heard something…now, some_one_ speaking. They were actually yelling, and with the varying voices, he could tell there were several of them. He got closer, now in a sneaking position, crouched low to the floor, his knife in his right hand. He crouch-walked forwards, the voices getting closer. He peeked around a bush, and that's when he saw them: three people, standing in a group near each other. He couldn't make out faces, but he could see that they were armored, and had ammunition with them. He saw no weapons, but they could have easily been concealed, or he just couldn't notice them. Regardless, he crept forwards.

He walked as close as possible to them, without alerting them of his presence. He slowed his breathing, and focused. If they knew he was there, then he'd be a goner. He only had his knife, and a pistol with no ammo. He finally got within a yard of them, still unnoticed. One of them turned, and began to walk away. Now was his chance. He stood up, and put his knife to the throat of the tallest one there, who gave a strangled cry. The other two turned around, their faces etched with surprise and fear. Wait, he knew those faces...

"Ash? Misty? Is that you?" Jack said. The kids' eyes widened completely, and Ash smiled happily.

"Jack! You're alive! How did you survive the fight? Did you kill it?" Ash said, brimming with joy.

Jack chuckled, and said, "I actually did. I'm still surprised at myself for surviving in the first place. I'm just glad you all are fine."

"Yay, Jack's alive, that's great! Now could you please remove the large knife you have at my neck?" Brock asked in a strangled voice. Jack looked back at Brock, before finally noticing that he still had his knife at Brock's neck.

"Sorry 'bout that, boy. You know, we should _really_ stop meeting each other like this, with me almost killing you all," Jack said, chuckling at his joke.

"Yeah…" Misty said, still somewhat frightened at Jack's entrance.

"So what's the situation?" Jack asked. Ash explained everything that had happened to them since they parted ways. He explained the walking, and Katya's lack of visuals in the jungle, and everything else. Jack's eyes widened when Ash told him about the dead Ursaring. Ash finally told him about the guards, and the Predator. Jack listened intently all the while, his hand occasionally rubbing the same spot on his leg.

"So one of those things came by and began to fight the guards? Okay, so we've got to go back, but be careful. No telling what the place will have in store."

They walked back to the Colony, where they quietly walked to where they had been kept captive. Jack told them to wait where they were. He walked out of sight, then came back a short while later, carrying three guns. He handed one to Ash, one to Brock, and kept the last one. He motioned them to follow him, and they obeyed. They walked past the building, which upon further investigation, held the now-dead bodies of the guards. It was unnerving to see the white fluids everywhere, but it was more comfortable than seeing blood, at least. Ash always got squeamish when he saw blood, but he managed to keep himself in check by looking away. After a few minutes of walking past monotonously-designed houses, they finally made it out of the Colony.

"Alright lads, we'll get to the Research Lab soon enough. Katya, can you hear me?" he said into his ear-microphone. There was the sound of static for a moment, but then Jack readjusted the receiver.

"Yes, I can hear you fine now. I have to be changing channels sometimes, to avoid detection. What I'm doing here isn't exactly according to plans here on the island," was what he heard.

"Okay, why didn't you tell us that there were fucking _robot men_ on this island? It would have been _really_ nice to know that!" Jack said, anger evident in his voice.

"I am sorry, but I did not anticipate having Weyland send his combat androids after you. I didn't think that he still had access to working cameras on this side of the island."

Jack groaned in frustration. Suddenly, he heard Misty groan in discomfort. He looked at her, and she was breathing a bit heavily, and holding her chest. "How much longer am I going to last?" she asked.

"You must find your way here as soon as possible; the Xenomorph will burst out in a while. I cannot say the exact time, but I can make a good guess. Where are you?" she asked.

"We're outside of the Colony, where the jungle starts again.

Katya was quick to respond: "Really? That is too far away, you'll never make it in time by foot!" Misty's eyes widened, and she began to whimper. Jack growled in frustration, and passed his hands through his light brown hair. This was getting too difficult. He couldn't just abandon them, though. Well…he _could_ abandon them, but something in him compelled him to stay, to help them. But why? That was another question for later. Right now, he had to focus on getting to the Lab in time. Then, they all heard Pikachu calling them.

"Pika Pika! Pika-chu!" he said, pointing to a large metal door. It was slightly ajar, and it was dark inside. Ash went over to it, and said, "I think he wants us to look inside!" Jack went over, and Brock did too. Misty simply watched as the men went to work at opening the door. On the count of three, all four of them, including Pikachu, pushed upwards, and the metal door began to sheath itself. Pikachu accidentally held on, and went up with the door, until he let go, and landed in Ash's arms. They all looked inside the door, and their eyes widened with surprise as they looked at the truck inside.

"It's a car!" Ash said. It was a pickup truck, and it had just enough space for all of them and their weapons. Jack went over, and looked inside the driver's seat. There were keys still conveniently placed on the engine key. He smiled; their luck was finally changing. He got inside, and the kids did too. Misty jumped in the passenger seat, claiming the "ladies first" card, while Ash, Brock, and Pikachu jumped in the back. Jack then began to turn the keys. Instead of hearing the engine humming to life, he only got a click. He tried turning the keys again. The car wouldn't start. The fuel tank was still full enough to take them a good distance, but the car wasn't starting. He got out, and lifted the hood. Even if he wasn't a mechanic, he could try and act like he knew what he was doing.

"What's wrong?" he heard Ash ask.

"The car's not starting. It might be the car battery, or somethin'. I don't know, it could be anything, really…" Jack said, putting a hand to his chin.

"Starting a car battery? No problem! Pikachu will handle this! Alright Pikachu," he heard Ash say. Jack looked up, and saw Pikachu had just jumped on top of the car battery. "Use thundershock!" Ash said. Pikachu began to charge up a thundershock, and Jack's eyes widened.

"Pikaaaa…"

"NO, WAIT! DON'T DO-"

"CHUUUUU!" Pikachu began to glow yellow, and electricity began to flow from out of his red cheeks. The electricity went inside the car battery, and then disappeared.

"Okay, Jack. Try the engine again!" Ash said.

Jack wordlessly walked over to the keys again, and turned them. The engine sputtered to life, and then began to comfortably hum with energy.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Jack said. He got in the driver's seat, and closed the door. "Kids, fasten your seat belts. Ehm, except you guys back there," he said, referring to Ash, Brock, and Pikachu. You three best just hold on tight!"

With that, Jack pressed on the pedal with a little more force than was probably necessary, and the car jerked forwards. He gave the kids in the back an apologetic look through the rearview mirror, before riding off into the jungle, following the jungle path that had been ill-maintained from years of inactivity on the island. Their next destination: the Research Lab


	12. The Research Lab

**What is this? Ed is posting a chapter so soon? What is this devilry? The answer: It's Summer Vacation, and I've got too much time to do stuff. That means faster updates for you guys! You want this story even faster? Then add some reviews! Cuz this guy's a reviewaholic! (Is that even a word? Who cares, I'll make it a word!) **

Jack, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu carefully walked over the rocks as they descended the steep, rocky hillside. They had abandoned the Jeep after it had ran out of gas, right in front of a rocky hillside. However, the Research Lab was now in sight, so they decided to start walking. Ash looked over his shoulder towards Misty, who was carefully walking over the rocks. Poor Misty, he thought, having a parasite inside of you was probably not a comfortable experience. She had been making few discomfort sounds for the moment, but they could get much worse at any time.

"Alright, kids, the Research Lab isn't too far away now," Jack said aloud, squinting his eyes. It was annoying how he had been calling them kids all this time, despite everything they've been through. "We should be getting there in a little while, if we-"

He was cut off by Misty crying out in pain. Everyone's heads whirled around, their eyes wide like saucers. She was on the floor now, her hand clutched to her chest area. Her face was contorted into a pained expression. Ash rushed to her side, and was surprised to see that Jack had too.

"Is everything alright?" Jack asked.

Instead of giving him a sarcastic and snide answer, she answered: "I think it's coming out!"

Jack looked her over, inspecting her, before finally deducing: "Nah, I think it was just a kick. It's not coming out just yet. Come on, we need to move it."

He began to walk onwards, without so much as a backwards glance. Ash helped Misty up, and gave her a concerned look, before running to catch up with Jack. Pikachu and Brock followed closely behind. Misty looked down at her chest, which had now calmed down a bit.

"I am _never_ going to be a mother."

…

The Research Lab was an enormous structure, with high walls, expanse systems of catwalks, and fluorescent white lights. The lights were on, giving off an ethereal glow which illuminated the nearby surrounding jungle. There was no way the colonists could miss this research lab's presence. It had obviously been built after it had been depopulated of the original miners that used to extract coal from veins under the ground. The group walked towards the lights, the bright lights acting like a beacon of hope, which is what it essentially was. This was the only medical facility that any of them knew of on the island, hostile or not. However, they had no idea what awaited them inside. This could be another trap from Weyland. Katya, or so she called herself, claimed to be the island's administrator at one point, who knows if she still holds loyalty to Weyland? It would have to be a risk that they're willing to take.

The front door to the Research Lab was slowly pushed open. A human head peeked out, and scanned the area, before the body to which the head belonged to pushed open the door the rest of the way. Jack beckoned the others over to him, and proceeded to walk in. There were long hallways, with several intersecting hallways at regular intervals. There were security cameras, but they weren't on. There wasn't much light in the hallways, which led some of them to lean against a wall to prevent from falling over. Misty leaned against a wall, breathing heavily, a hand to her chest. Ash went over to her, and tried to see if she was doing alright. As their eyes began to adapt to the low light, Jack began to fiddle with his communicator.

"Katya, can you read me? We're inside the Research Lab," he said.

There was a small beep, and then: "I will illuminate the hallways. Just give me one moment…"

A moment later, the lights suddenly began to shine brightly, causing them to squint at the sudden change in light. Misty put a hand in front of her eyes, shielding them. Suddenly, Jack's motion sensor bleeped in a frenzy, and they only had a fraction of a second to turn, only to see two aliens lash out at Misty. Misty screamed, and backed away. Everyone's guns went up, and Pikachu went into a battle stance, charging up electricity in his cheeks. However, they all lowered their weapons after the aliens hit the glass wall that separated them.

Misty stared at them, wide-eyed, a hand still at her chest. The Xenomorphs growled in frustration, and began to attack the glass. One xenomorph jumped at the glass, striking it head-on with full force. The glass barely cracked, indication that it must have been reinforced with some material, and that it was very thick. The xenomorphs took turns head butting the glass, but to no avail. They were not breaking through that wall any time soon. Ash looked through the glass, into the room they were in. Another room could be seen across from it, with another glass wall separating them, and a door leading to it from inside the holding pen. Inside that room, there were several computers, and a security camera in the corner of the room's ceiling.

"This is an observation pen," Jack stated out.

"They were studying the aliens in this lab, then. How long have they been here?" Ash asked.

"I don't care about the stupid aliens, I just wanna get this thing out of my-" Misty said, her voice being interrupted by her own pained cry. She once again fell down, both hands to her chest, deeming them more useful in trying to stop the pain than keeping herself from hitting the floor.

"Misty!" Ash yelled, kneeling down to check on her. She was now whimpering, her eyes shut. Small tears were cutting across her cheeks, and she was starting to sweat. The creature was going to burst out from her chest soon enough, that was certain.

"Come on, guys! We need to get Misty to help!" Ash shouted. Ash tried to get her to stand, but her legs simply began to buckle out from underneath her. Ash managed to get her to lean against him, and he supported her with his shoulder. Brock went to her other side, and did the same. Jack walked ahead of them, his gun raised in anticipation of any incoming hostiles. His motion sensor began to flare up as they passed more observation pens, most of them holding Xenomorphs inside. They all tried to break out of the glass, their teeth bared, their claws slashing at the wall, but the barriers did not relent. This did not discourage the Xenomorphs, who recklessly continued to headbutt the walls. These things were smart enough to work in coordinated hunting packs, yet they didn't know that they couldn't break the glass? Maybe they weren't as smart as he thought.

As they walked, Jack noticed that there were large gun like structures on the floors, at the end of each hallway. They must have been sentry guns, incase of Xenomorph breakout. It seemed that they hadn't done as well as they should have. They turned a corner, and they was a brightly illuminated room on the side. There was only one door, but it had a glass window on it, where the light shone through.

"There it is! Hurry up!" Ash said. He turned his face towards Misty, and told her: "Hang in there, Misty, you'll be alright." She simply groaned in response. She wasn't going to last much longer at all.

Jack got to the door, and opened it, before turning to them and waving his arm towards himself, saying "In here, move!"

"Quickly, get her on the medical table," Katya said, but this time, it was her real voice, and not from the radio. Ash didn't bother to look at her as he helped Misty onto the medical table. Brock carried her legs, and placed them on the other end of the table gently.

"Go to the closet at the side of the room, and use the alcohol swabs to sanitize her arm for the injection, on her upper arm," Katya said. She was working at a computer in another room across from them, which was accessible from a door on the wall that the two shared. Ash went to the closet, and opened it. Inside, several items were seen; bandages, pills, and weak painkillers were amongst them. He found a large, transparent plastic bottle of wiping alcohol to use, which he grabbed, along with a piece of cloth he saw. He went over to Misty, and Jack put some alcohol on the cloth. He hastily swabbed her upper arm area, causing it to shine slightly from the alcohol. Ash looked her over; she was sweating now, and she had begun to violently cough. One hand was clutched to her chest, the other one grabbing ahold to the side of the medical table. Her face was pale, and her skin had begun to turn clammy. She cried out in pain as her body violently lurched forwards.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Jack shouted. He looked over to Katya, who was hastily typing away at the computer in front of her.

"I don't have enough power to do the operation here. I am trying to reroute power from one of Weyland's stations nearby. I just hope Weyland doesn't notice the drain…" she said.

Suddenly, they heard a mechanical whirring, coming from above their heads. They looked up, and saw that a mechanical arm was descending from the ceiling. It lowered to about chest height, and stopped right above Misty's body. It activated a scanner of some sort, and it analyzed Misty from her head to her abdomen. It ceased its scanning, and then it released a very fine-tip needle, filled with a clear fluid. A miniature laser pointer shone on her arm, and the needle began to slowly move forwards.

"Keep her steady, I need to anesthetize her properly," Katya said. Ash, Brock, Jack, and Pikachu did all they could to hold down here convulsing body, so that the needle could have a clear needle stopped when it was about a centimeter over her skin, then quickly thrust into her. A hissing sound was heard, and the fluid began to disappear from the needle. As the needle injected the fluid, Misty seemed to calm down a bit. She still groaned in pain, but she seemed to stop writhing from the creature inside of her. The machine retracted from her arm, before the needle was disposed of, and replaced with another one, filled with a different fluid. This one was blue, but still translucent. It also thrust the needle into her arm, and finally retracted completely from her.

Misty still groaned and writhed slightly after the second needle was injected into her. A few seconds later, however, she seemed to simply turn off, and her arms went still at her sides. Her breathing evened out, and color began to return to her face.

"It is done."

Ash let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. Jack simply sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. Several emotions flooded his mind at once, but the prominent one was relief. He had gone through about half an entire island and risked his life several times for her, and she was finally safe. He had done things that he knew that he would never have had to have done in his life, had seen things that he never would have wanted to see either, and had done them in such a short span of time as well. The next feeling that overcame him was a strong feeling of tiredness. He wanted to simply lie down and sleep for an entire day, then wake up to be with his friends. However, as luck would have it, there was still no time for rest just yet.

Katya's voice startled them: "Please come in here, I need to speak with you." Jack simply acknowledged her presence, while Ash visibly jumped from being startled. He looked over to the window pane that revealed the woman working on the computer. Jack strode forwards confidently, while Ash and Brock gave each other unsure glances, but went towards the door that led to Katya's room. Jack went in first, followed by Ash, Pikachu, and Brock. Ash finally got a good look at the mysterious woman who had promised them aid in their time of need. She seemed to have a young face, with dark brown eyes and similarly-colored hair to match. She was shorter than Jack, but taller than Ash by several inches. She was wearing a white shirt of some sort, and had brown pants on too, with black shoes. However, the feature that he failed to not notice was the synthetic metal plating that was exposed from what would have been a wound on her hip; it seemed as if she had been in an explosion of some sort.

"Hello, everyone. It is good to finally meet you in person," she said. Her voice sounded soft, and even apologetic. "Please, do not be alarmed," she said, when she saw that they were all staring at her with wide eyes, except for Jack, who kept a scrutinizing eye on her, "and please, do not refer to me as a 'mechanical person'. I prefer to be called what I am: an android."

They all looked at each other, before Brock spoke first: "So you're a robot? I-I mean android?"

She nodded, but quickly said," But my loyalty does not lie with Weyland. I broke ties with him long ago."

Ash stepped into the conversation: "Will Misty be alright?" he asked.

"Yes, your friend will be alright. The injections I gave her were an anesthetic and a special tranquilizer that will keep the creature dormant until it's safe enough to do surgery on her."

Ash winced at the though of all the blood that would accompany said surgery. Needless to say, he was still squeamish when it came to blood. "At least Misty would finally be safe from…getting killed by the creature", Ash said. He almost said "from dying", but he knew that wasn't correct at all. No, none of them were safe from dying, not in this island. There was always the possibility of death, at any given moment. Especially since they were inside a small room with only one entrance, which was inside an entire building possibly filled with the very creatures that they were trying to hide from. He also had to remember Weyland's minions, who were probably hunting them down as they spoke.

Jack stepped forwards, and said," Could you now kindly explain to us just what is going on here?", with an air of impatience in his tone.

She nodded once, before beckoning them all to sit down. Brock took a seat across from her, while Ash sat down on the floor, with Pikachu on his lap. Jack leaned against a nearby wall.

"The island, as you may have known, used to be a mining island, where workers would mine for coal, which was abundant in the island. However, coal began to run out, forcing them to dig deeper, and deeper, in search for more."

"Right, and then workers started to disappear. How does that fit into this?" Jack asked.

"It started when three workers from the mines mysteriously disappeared one day. They never came back. This did not faze the company owners, who must have believed that they got caught in a cave-in. Regardless, workers continued to go into the mines. However, they continued to go missing, one by one at first, and then several at a time. Sensing something else at play, the safety organization for workers shut down the island for poor care of its workers, without actually knowing what was happening. When the owners cried out for proof of their innocence, the safety organization sent out a team to investigate the island. The team never came back. Authorities sent a rescue team to the island, which came back with evidence of the other people's grisly deaths. They had been killed by the Xenomorphs."

"So then there were Xenomorphs on the island before your company came in? Then what does this company have to do with anything?" Ash asked.

"Please, let me finish," she said. "As I was saying, they had been killed by the Xenomorphs, which had gotten the attention of another company: Weyland-Yutani, the corporation that now inhabits this island. The company managed to capture some specimens, and studied those while they explored the structure that they had found in the old mine shafts: a colossal Pyramid. The Pyramid was of ancient design, and contained several unopened Xenomorph eggs. You are familiar with the lifecycle of the Xenomorphs, I trust?"

Katya punched in some commands into the computer, and upon pressing one last key, the screen to her side, which she had been standing in front of while she had been explaining, shone with life, showing them the picture of one of the "eggs". The picture was actually a diagram, with a depiction of a face hugger inside. "The eggs hold these creatures which the scientists have taken to calling "face huggers", due to the nature of their subjugation of a suitable host. The egg opens up, and the creature lunges at the host, and impregnates it. After impregnation, it dies, but the embryo is inside the host, growing. When the embryo grows, which only takes a short while, a creature is formed, the one inside your friend." She pushed another key, and the picture changed to an X-ray photograph of a man who had been impregnated by a face hugger. A creature with a dome-shaped head and a serpent-like body was visible inside the man's chest area, coiled up in a fetal position, but without any limbs to speak of. "When the creature is ready to come out, it bites its way forcibly out of the host's chest cavity, killing the host in the process. The scientists called them 'chestbursters' for this reason."

"_That's_ what was inside of Misty?" Ash asked in disbelief. Katya nodded, and Ash looked over to Misty, who was still peacefully resting on the table.

"As you can see, the Company got ahold of several of these eggs, and they had several test subjects impregnated in order to study the creatures that spawned. When the chestbursters grew to full size, they ended up looking like the Xenomorphs that stalk the island's facilities. From the information that you managed to direct to me," she said, looking at Jack in particular, " I was able to realize Weyland's true intent: to try and control the creatures. He was looking for a way to exploit them so that they could be used to his advantage. But, due to a power failure one day, the Xenomorphs went amok, and wiped out the inhabitants of the research lab. Everyone, except me… I was the only survivor." Her voice was solemn now, and she seemed to choose her next words carefully.

"I was the one who called for help when the Xenomorphs went amok.I called for the military, for aid, but I should have known that it was too late. The force they sent in was demolished in a matter of moments, it appeared. That was the last moment that I had communication. Now, I have no way of contacting the mainland, and no way of stopping Weyland."

Jack's expression was set as he wandered off into deep thought, remembering about his team, and how quickly they had all died. All for nothing…all because of this power-hungry fool of a man. God, if he had the man in front of him right now, he'd make him suffer. He'd do a number of horrible things to him. He'd grab his scrawny little throat and throttle him; he'd break his bones; he'd rip an eye out and pour alcohol into the open socket; he'd beat on his head until he reached tonsils, or until his fists were reduced to bloody stubs, whichever came first; his imagination went more wild that he'd have liked to on fantasizing about Weyland's death.

"And now, here we are. The reason I have helped you was because I still need your help," Katya said.

"What else do you need help with?" Brock asked, a little more eager than was probably normal. It seemed that he still had his thing for women he deemed attractive, even if they _did_ happen to be a synthetic being that was made of oil and steel.

"I am still working on that plan. Right now, though, it is too late to do much. Don't worry, you'll be safe in here. I'll lock the door," she said, resign in some commands on the computer. The door in the other room clicked as it locked itself mechanically. " and now, I will be doing the surgery soon. But for you all, you should rest. There is food and other basic supplies inside the cabinet over there in the corner." She pointed to a small cabinet that was currently closed which was sitting in the corner of the room.

It was then that Ash had realized just how hungry and tired he had been. He had never walked so much or had done so much in one day before, even while adventuring. In fact, he hadn't eaten in the longest time, his hunger numbed by the fear of losing Misty. But now that the danger was not present for the time being, his body returned to its old self. They all went to the cabinet, and opened it, where they found an adequate supply of food. Ash grabbed a can of food, but found that he could not penetrate the metal covering that the can had. He saw Jack's outstretched hand, and he gave the can to him. It was a good thing that big knives also made for good can-openers. Brock ate some of his food, before he turned to Katya.

"Katya, do you want any food?" he asked.

"I don't eat, I don't have a digestive system."

"Oh, right…android. Nevermind…" Brock said, returning to his food. Ash almost snickered at Brock's antics. It was good to see that he had changed so little from their time on the island. Ash himself had changed a lot, or so he believed. Then again, having to fight for your life and kill other living beings for your own survival was bound to change a person, no matter who they were. At this point, however, it was important to always have someone to stand by you, friends. Now _that_ was something he had. He had Pikachu, who had already proven his worth several times over, even before the island, he had Brock, whose fear of death was overcome only by his loyalty to his friends, and he had Misty, who did a poor job at physically supporting them so far, but whose fiery attitude and personality kept them all going. Then, there was also Jack…Ash looked over at Jack, who was silently eating his own can of beans. Ash barely knew anything about this man, and Jack didn't know Ash very well either. Yet, this man had risked his own life and selflessly led the charge in rescuing Misty. The rescue was a success, but Jack obviously had his doubts. Why did he help them? He could have happily kept on living in the shack, or have found someplace else to live in. Why help some random group of kids who were tired and lost?

In the middle of his thinking, Ash felt himself getting sleepy. He had already eaten his fill, so he went to one corner of the room. Pikachu followed him loyally, as always. Ash sat against the corner, and put his cap down, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

...

Ash's eyes slowly fluttered open. He looked around. Brock had fallen asleep against a piece of equipment, a bit of drool dripping from his slightly open mouth. Pikachu was curled up against his side, sleeping peacefully. He looked over to Jack, who was sitting with his back against the wall, his gun in hand. The fresh bandages on his body suggested that either he or Katya had treated the wounds, and replaced the old bandages with newer ones. Ash shifted a bit, and Jack noticed him.

"What's the matter, can't sleep?" he asked.

"I should be saying the same thing to you," Ash said, sitting comfortably against the corner.

"I never sleep very much. I guess that old habits really do die hard…" Jack said. "You never really answered my question," he added.

"Well, to be honest, something's been nagging me recently."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Jack," Ash began, "Why did you do all this? I mean, why did you help us? With Misty, with everything?"

Jack looked at him, then refocused his gaze on the floor. "I dunno…I'm still trying to figure it out myself," he said. "Although, I guess that I must have sympathized with you and having lost your friend. Maybe I thought that by saving her, I could avenge Tony, but that's not gonna happen. He was a good man, but he's dead now…he didn't deserve to die, I think." Jack sighed, then put his head back against the wall behind him.

"Aren't you afraid of dying? I mean, all your friends died because of the Xenos, you could too," Ash said.

Jack didn't respond for a moment, nor did he give any sign that he had heard his statement. Then, he suddenly chuckled. He turned to Ash.

"You know what? I am afraid of dying. I may not have much to actually live for anymore, considering that we're probably never getting off this damn rock, but other people do, and those people still need my help."

Ash stared at him dumbfounded. He never knew that Jack could be like this, so…philosophical. He always had a hard time finding out words to fit into a sentence that would make him sound smart, or wise for that matter. He would leave that to older people, like Jack.

"Well, you know what?" Ash said, a smile tugging at the sides of his mouth. "I'm glad you helped us. I just wish I wasn't so useless…"

"Useless? You started the car, and you safely escorted your friend without my help. I don't think someone who was useless could do that,"Jack said. "Trust me, when you see someone who's useless, you'll know."

Ash smiled completely now. "Thanks, that means a lot".

"Now go to sleep, you've got to rest up for whatever plans Katya has in store for us."

Ash smiled softly, and leaned back against his corner again, his cap down. He closed his eyes, and awaited for sleep to overcome his senses again.

That is, until he was alerted to the sound of the motion tracker sensing hostile movement. His eyes shot open, and he looked towards Jack. Jack was looking at his motion tracker, and then looked to the door. Alarms were beginning to sound off in the building, and warning lights also went off, but they were all in the hallways. The alarms woke everyone else up, except Katya, who never slept. She looked out the door's window, and gasped. She ran to the room that the group was in, and opened the door, which slammed against the wall because of the frightened woman who slammed it open.

"What's join on out there?" Jack asked, his gun tightly gripped.

"It's the Xenomorphs, they've somehow gotten out!" she said. "I don't know what happened, but the doors to their holding pens opened themselves. There was barely enough energy to operate on your friend, I don't know where the sudden energy spike came from."

"You said you rerouted power from one of the outlying stations, right?" Jack said. She nodded.

"Then they must have detected the power leak, and traced it back here!" he deduced.

"I am afraid that you are correct. But do not worry, they cannot break through that door. As long as it stands, they cannot come in here" she said, pointing to the reinforced steel door. The same door that made an electronic beep before undoing the locks. Jack went wide-eyed, and got up from the wall, his gun trained on the door. Just on cue, an alien opened the door, and was taken down by a stream of well-placed bullets.

"Katya, get us back in control!" Jack shouted, running over to the door. Another alien popped out, and it lunged at Jack, before being put down by another burst from the assault rifle. Katya quickly went over to the computers, and began to punch in several commands. Every time she put in a new command, an overrided error message popped up. Weyland was taking control of the Research Labs. Jack went over to the door and shut the two panels that made up the doors closed. Just as he did so, however, an alien rammed its entire body against the door. The impact caused him to drop his gun. He bent down to get it, but the alien began to pry the door panels apart, forcing him to keep pushing back against the door in a futile attempt to keep the beast out. Brock rushed over to help him, pulling on the door panels too, just in time for the alien to ram against the door once again. It felt like pushing back against a battering ram. Despite having two people holding it back, the Alien managed to get its claw against the door, and push it open enough to reveal its black, domed head and toothed snarl.

Brock dove for the gun, and got up just in time to spray a storm of bullets into the alien's face. The alien shrieked and retracted from the door. The door then locked shut once more, and Jack looked back to Katya, who had a facial expression of relief. Ash sighed in relief too. But then, he felt something clamp against his shoulders, and yank him upwards, resulting in him letting out a surprised yelp. The yelp evolved into a scream as the alien pulled Ash up into the air vents. Ash heard Jack, Brock, and Pikachu cry out to him, but they couldn't do anything. The alien pulled Ash into an area just large enough to be able to snarl at him. Ash cried in fear, and the alien pulled out its tail from behind it. Ash saw the tail, and desperately tried to get away from the biological spear, but it was futile. Instead of disemboweling him, or stabbing him through the heart, the alien then punctured Ash's arm with its tail. Ash cried out in surprise and slightly from pain, before he began to feel his arm go numb. The numbness travelled to his head, and he began to feel drowsy. His last vision was of the alien's saliva dripping jaws.

…

Jack stared at the vent that the alien had pulled Ash through. How had he not noticed it before? Such an obvious entrance route for these creatures, lithe and clever as they were. And he had missed it. Now he had paid the price. Ash was gone. For good. Brock stared at the vent too, and walked up to it.

"Ash!" he cried out, but the only response he got was from the sound bouncing off the metal walls and back to him. The walls were deaf, and they did not answer his calls.

"It's too late, he's gone," Jack said. His voice was solemn and grave. It happened again; he had lost another teammate, just because of his own ineptitude.

"I am sorry for your loss, he seemed like a nice boy…" Jack heard Katya say. Jack's expression morphed into a scowl, and anger filled him. He whirled around to Katya, and glared at her in the eyes.

"_You're _sorry? You're _sorry?_ What good will _that_ do? He's gone! He's dead! Ash is dead, and we can't do anything about it!" Jack was getting enraged very quickly. Having lost so many friends before, and losing one now, one would think that he'd have learned to deal with deaths close to him. This was not the case, evidently.

"That…may not be entirely true."

Jack did a double-take, and walked up to Katya. "What do you mean, not true? You saw that he got abducted, those things kill their victims! They need to eat too, don't you see their teeth?" Jack said.

"Yes, but some of their victims are used as hosts for new Xenomorphs to form. The creature might just be taking your friend to the Hive," she said. "Xenomorphs are much like insects in the respect that they build Hives, much like Beedrill do. However, they have been known to drag their victims to their Hive sometimes. There, the victims are, presumably, impregnated by a face hugger. There is a Hive nearby, right in this Research facility. If you'd like, I can give you directions to the Hive. Just be careful, I still need you."

Jack stared at her, and then looked back outside. There were still some Xenomorphs prowling the outside in the hallways, and those were just the ones they could see.

"There's not telling how many of those things there are," Jack said. "There could be an entire pack of them there. None of us can go out there safely without being killed first."

"There is one thing that I have that may help," Katya said, going over to one of the cabinets that was inside the room. She opened it, and pulled out a strange-looking gun. "This is the M240B Flamethrower, a company-made weapon. The Xenomorphs have shown a strong dislike for flames. This will keep them at bay."

Jack looked at her, surprised. It wasn't everyday that someone got to use a flamethrower. "Okay, but it'll run out of fuel eventually. How am I supposed to keep them at bay while we find Ash? I don't think it'll last that long," Jack said.

"You don't need to last that long. There are turrets in the hallways there," Katya said, pointing towards the window. "There are command laptops besides them, if you get to the laptops, then you could activate them, and use them to kill the rest of the Xenomorphs." Jack looked back to the window, then accepted the weapon. He wasn't all to familiar with using a flamethrower, but he knew some very basic rules, just enough to not get him burned. He walked over to the door, and turned back towards Katya.

"You can't stay here alone, one of them might come back through the vents," Jack pointed out.

"I'll stay with her," Brock said. "It shouldn't be too hard with only one entrance, and with a motion tracker to alert me. We'll be fine." Although it sounded like he was making up an excuse to stay, Jack said nothing. He actually would rather not have him a long, since this rescue required swiftness and precision, something Brock did not have. Katya handed him some canisters of fuel for the flamethrower, which he placed on a harness that she also supplied him with. Jack then stood at the doorway. Just then, he felt something tugging at his pants leg. He looked down, and saw Pikachu, staring at him with determination.

"You wanna come?" Jack asked. Pikachu nodded, and said "Pika." Jack smirked. It was almost touching how loyal Pikachu was to his master. "Alright. Kaya, open the doors."

The door locks were undone, and Jack pushed the door open. He pointed the flamethrower nozzle to the gaping doorway, and pulled the trigger. A jet of hot flame spewed out of the nozzle of the gun like a Charizard's fire breath. It illuminated the hallways brightly, and the heat from the searing flames could be felt from behind the gun. Alien screeches could be heard, and then several aliens ran away from the flames. Jack quickly rushed forwards to the first turret he saw. He quickly punched in some commands starting up the sentry. A Xenomorph sneaked up on him, but it was quickly beaten away by Pikachu's thunderbolt. After a few more commands, Jack finally got the sentry gun working. Its flashlight turned on, and the gun hummed to life. It beeped as it detected a Xenomoroph, then turned to shoot it. The targeted Xenomorph was taken down with marksman-like accuracy, and immediately refocused its fire on another Xenomorph.

Jack backed away, and fired the flamethrower at a Xenomorph that got too close. The Xenomorph roared in pain, and thrashed around the floor like an enraged serpent, before finally _exploding._ The alien literally exploded when the fire lingered too long, causing limbs to fly everywhere, and acid blood to spray over Jack's shoulder plate. Jack quickly removed the shoulder plate, and let it drop to the floor, sizzling as the acidic substance ate away at the metal at an alarming rate. Jack looked back at the sentry gun, which was doing marvelously. It quickly locked onto a target, and shot at it only enough to kill it, before quickly snapping to another target with a _beep_, before unleashing hell on it as it had done so with the last one. The Xenomorphs were quickly eliminated by the combined forces of Jack's flamethrower, Pikachu's electric attacks, and the Sentry gun's accurate firing. He looked around, and, seeing no imminent threat, he continued. If Ash was still alive, then Jack felt the need to rescue him. Though at heart, he felt it was futile, but he couldn't turn back now.

With a heavy sigh and a wipe of his brow, he continued onwards, with Pikachu bounding beside him, intent on finding Ash and bringing him back alive.

…

Misty awoke with a start. She looked around, frenzied and excited. She was quickly confronted by Katya, who told her to calm down. Misty looked back at her stomach, and pulled up her shirt. A small scar was visible where the machines had done their job of removing the parasite. She sighed in relief, and pulled her shirt back over her stomach. Just then, she looked around, more calmly, looking for something. She turned her attention to the android woman who had taken care of her.

"Where's Ash? And Jack?" she asked. Katya frowned slightly, before answering.

"Your friend Ash got taken by one of the aliens while you were unconscious. He-"

"What? Ash got taken by those things?" Misty yelled. He hands clenched up into fists, and her face turned into a scowl. "Where is he? What happened to Jack, and Pikachu?" she asked, just now having noticed the small Pokemon's disappearance as well.

Katya put a comforting shoulder in order to get her to calm down, and said "They both went to find Ash in the Xenomorph Hive, where they may have taken him. I just hope that they make it back safely. Now please, calm down. Stress will only overwork your already-stressed heart."

This woman disgusted Misty; she could probably care less about Ash's life, all she probably cared about was Jack, who was more capable, and Pikachu, who had his own electrical powers that could keep the aliens at bay. But she had a point, she had been very stressed and worked-out lately. Almost giving birth to a monster wasn't the most comfortable experience. She sighed, and sat down with her legs off the side of the table. She looked up, and saw Brock carefully observing the contents of a jar with utter fascination. She walked over to him, and almost screamed when she saw what was inside the jar.

It was an embryo, like the ones she would see her science teacher bring sometimes, but it didn't look like anything she'd ever seen. It was vaguely serpent-like, and its head…it looked eerily similar to a Xenomorph.

"Uh, Brock? What is that?" she asked.

Brock looked over to her, then explained: "Its the alien that Katya took out of you." Misty almost fainted. And vomited. At the same time. That _thing_ was inside of her? She was happy that Katya had managed to get the things out of her body, but the merely knowing what had been inside of her was almost enough to make her vomit outright. Then she thought back to Ash. If he got impregnated, then he'd have that thing inside of him…she looked back at it. It was grotesque, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from it. She dearly hoped that Ash would be alright, she really did. She cared for him, but she'd never say it. She was his friend, and a good one at that. If one would consider someone who follows someone else who had broken their bike so long ago that she doesn't even remember a friend, then that was what she definitely was. She prayed that Ash would come back.

After all, he still owed her a bike.

...

"Take the stairs here," said Katya. Jack complied with there directions, turning to his right and descending the stairway that he saw. He had been walking for a few minutes now, and he hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

"Katya," Jack said into his headphone, which Katya gave him so he could use both hands for the flamethrower. "If Ash really did get taken here, how long will it take for him to get impregnated?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, it shouldn't take too long after he gets strapped to the wall, like you have seen previously. If he happens to be impregnated, then you must kill him."

Jack almost did a double-take, but necessity required that he keep his eyes forward, as to not miss a possibly incoming ambush.

"What do you mean, kill him?" Jack said, obviously displeased with her solution. "You've got a medical bay right there, can't you remove it from him?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that. There isn't enough energy for another surgery, nor do I have the supplies. If I leach power from another source, we'll likely be found out again. I presume that they think us dead by now, so we've been lucky enough so far," she said.

Jack groaned with frustration. He was angry, and unhappy with the current situation. He wanted to be able to yell at someone, or something, anything. He settled for swearing loudly and kicking a wall. He knew she was right, though. If he didn't rescue Ash soon enough, then he'd have to shoot him. Now, something worried him. How was he going to bring himself to kill him if Ash did get impregnated? He had done this thousands of time before, killing someone, ending their lives, and only on a few situations had he had to kill someone in a mercy killing. Whenever he killed before, he would do it out of necessity, and also because it had been his chosen career. However, when he thought of killing Ash, who was just a little kid in his eyes… he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do it. Just raise the gun, aim the sights, and pull the trigger. He'd never feel it, it'd be a quick and painless death. Simple enough, right? He hoped so.

The stairway ended, and he was met with a hallway covered in the black resinous substance that they had seen in the Refinery. This was the Hive. He took a step forwards, and stepped onto the Hived floor. His footsteps became padded, and cushioned with every footfall. Despite being inside a large metal hallway, which amplified sounds coming from the other ends, the sound of his steps were greatly muffled. This things must have also have situational advantage in the Xenomorph's favor. If the resin could muffle his own footfall to the point where he could barely even hear it, then it would render a Xenomorph's footfalls to a nearly nonexistent volume. He'd have to be more careful now.

"Katya, can you give me eyes in the Hive?" he asked.

"If the Xenomorphs had not put their resin on the camera lenses, then I'd be able to do so, but such is not the case. You'll have to navigate your own way through the Hive for now," she said. Katya had been a great asset to their goals so far, but even Jack wouldn't call her incompetent for not having cameras to help him at this point. With her doing so much under the radar, it was amazing how much she had accomplished with such limited supplies. Jack merely looked back to the hallway, and began to walk. He had to be careful not to trip on any resinous tripwire-like structures. Apparently, the Xenomorphs must have taken to using the walls to get around instead of the floor, given the uneven surfaces. His walking led him into an intersection in the hallways, with black resin covering every square inch. He looked at each one carefully. He had to pick one of them to go down, but which one? He couldn't linger too long, he had to pick one quick. He hated making decisions like this, that's why he worked in a squad.

His attention was averted when he heard a young, male, _human_ scream. It was Ash.

"Ash!" Jack yelled, trying to see if he could get a response out of the Pokemon Trainer. Pikachu pointed to the the leftmost hallway, and ran down it. Jack followed behind him as quickly as he could while carrying the flamethrower. It was bulky, but surprisingly lightweight. He wondered why he had never seen this model in his career. His thoughts were cut short as he heard Ash scream again. Jack's head shot to one side, and his body ran to the direction of the scream. Pikachu, who had taken a wrong turn, ran alongside Jack now, at an even pace with the soldier. Just then, they came across a large, circular room. Right in the far wall, pinned to said wall by means of the black resinous substance that the Xenos were so fond of, was Ash. And the alien egg in front of him that had just begun to open up, revealing a fleshy, pale creature with eight legs and a whiplike tail.

The creature scuttled out of its container, still wet and gleaming from the vile fluids that were part of its receptacle. Wasting no time, Jack ran towards them, trying to get a good shot without hitting Ash. He knew that if that thing attached itself to Ash's face, then he'd be a goner for good, but he couldn't risk friendly fire. The creature wiggled its tail in anticipation of a pounce. It trilled, and flexed its legs shortly before quickly bending its legs. Jack watched with horror as the creature pounced at Ash and flew through the air.

"Pika CHU!"

A white-hot lighting bolt struck the face hugger in midair, causing the creature to trill in pain. The force of the bolt forced the creature's body to go flying to one side, its body a charred heap of sickly pale flesh. It weakly flailed its legs, before being silenced by another lighting bolt. Jack went over to Ash and took off the flamethrower unit from his waist. He needed his maneuverability to be able to reach his knife. He pulled it out, and began to undo the resin that bound Ash to the wall. He ignored the stream of gratitude and thanks that came out of Ash's mouth as he concentrated on cutting him loose. He cut away one last piece before pulling Ash out of the wall. He took a look at him; his face was covered in some sort of slimy substance mixed in with his own perspiration, and he looked a little shaked up, but he'd live.

"Come on, boy, get on your feet. We're getting out of here," said Jack. Ash's train of thought went a different direction, and he began to ask Jack different questions.

"Where's Brock? And Katya? Is Misty alright?" Ash asked. Jack sighed. As happy as he was that he rescued Ash, the boy could still be annoying at times.

"Boy, I'd suggest you shut up if you don't want to attract any unwanted visitors."

The last sentence quickly shut Ash up, and he silently looked back at his Pikachu, who was happily bounding alongside his master. Hopefully, they'd be able to get back to the medical bay and figure out their next plan of action. However, their plans would be cut short when they heard the alerting shriek of an alien in the hallway beyond. Ash got behind Jack, cowering behind the larger man with the flamethrower. Jack raised the nozzle, and unleashed hell upon them. A jet of white-hot fire flew from the nozzle, and caught an alien in the flames. The alien shrieked in pain, before dying. Another alien got exposed to the flames, but managed to get away from the stream of fire. However, the ammunition for the flame-thrower seemed to be adhesive, as it kept burning when it caught the alien on fire. It died painfully as well, exploding in an acidic mass of blood.

However, one alien got behind Jack, and pounced on him. A well placed Thunderbolt quickly subdued the alien. However, it had managed to slash open the remaining fuel containers for the flamethrower. The fuel began to leak out of the containers from several large slash marks. Jack pushed the alien off while Pikachu held off the rest of them with his electric-type attacks. He got up, and unholstered the harness on his body which held the flamethrower, now essentially useless, given that it had no ammo left, and would be considered dead weight. He let the now-useless weapon drop to the floor, before taking out his Assault rifle and blasting the Xenomorph in front of him. The alien was quickly silenced, and Jack turned and ran, shouting at Ash and Pikachu to run as well. The three of them ran from the pack of aliens behind them, firing whatever weapons they had on them.

Jack's heartbeat skyrocketed as he ran. Never in his life had he felt so scared. His eyes were wide with fright, and his breathing became much more erratic and generally faster, both because of the running and how scared he really was. This was actually a big deal for him. Everyone looked to his as their source of hope, a sign of courage, and during his training, he was always taught to never be afraid. Unfortunately, they never taught him to deal with aliens in combat training. He focused on running for his life, and shooting blindly behind him, against his better judgement. The world became a blur as he ran by, but the Xenomorphs were catching up. He looked ahead, and saw a mechanical door was approaching.

"Quick, follow me!" jack shouted, and ran to the door. Ash and Pikachu followed behind him. They got to the door, and Jack began to open it up manually. "Hold them off while I get this door open!" he shouted to them. They didn't hesitate for a moment, taking positions behind Jack. Ash grabbed the assault rifle for the moment, while Jack opened the door. The aliens began to come in, and they were ready for them. Pikachu hit the first one with a thunderbolt, and another one jumped over its body, which Ash shot at. He quickly refocused his attention to another alien nearby, and shot at it, killing it. Surprisingly, during this time of excitement, and adrenaline, Ash became much less squeamish around blood, but it was still there.

"It's either me or them, I kill them or me and Jack and Pikachu die," Ash said to himself as he shot yet another alien through the head that got too close. Pikachu sent a Thunder into an Alien's body, killing it from the raw power of the attack. Pikachu was starting to show signs of fatigue, he had not had to fight so much or use so many attacks before in such a short time. Ash was afraid that Pikachu wouldn't last much longer, and that neither would he. There may have been 95 bullets inside the gun's ammo cartridge, but this thing fired off very quickly, and Ash was still not as good at shooting as he'd liked. There was only a finite amount of time before he'd run out of ammo, or Pikachu would finally relent. If either happened, then they'd be doomed. Suddenly, Ash aimed his gun at an alien, and pulled the trigger, but only got a clicking sound as a response. He had run out of ammo. He looked to his side, and saw Pikachu fire off another thunderbolt, this time at the alien in front of Ash.

He cried out in surprise when he felt someone grab his shirt collar. He turned and saw that it was Jack who was pulling him back inside the room he had just gotten access to. Pikachu ran in with them, but not before unleashing a huge thunderbolt to the hallway, chaining up several aliens in one go, before Jack closed the door.

…

Katya was working on her computer at an extremely fast rate, aided by her abilities as an android, which gave her extremely fast thought process and coordination. However, no matter what enhanced abilities she may have had, she felt like she wasn't fast enough. Like she would never be fast enough. There was too much work to be done, to much research to do, to many notes and intel to study and analyze. Her eyes quickly darted across the screens, and her cortex processed all the information at the speed of a supercomputer. References were made, and data was memorized with alarming speed, but it still wasn't enough. Good thing she wasn't human, or she'd have to lie down and soothe an ungodly migraine that she'd probably be having if she had a human mind to be stressed.

"Katya, do you read me?" she heard Jack say over the communication unit. "We've been cornered. We're in the Hive, and I've got Ash with me, but we've locked ourselves in a room, and there are aliens outside the door too. Any escape routes you can see?" he asked. He knew that Katya had access to the Research Lab's blueprints, and knew the exact layout of the entire facility. Truly, she was an important asset to their survival here.

"Can you describe to me the room you are in?" she asked. She heard silence for a few moments; probably looking around, she presumed.

"There's a big wall full of computer terminals, and a control panel too," he said.

She opened up the blueprints, and looked over the building plan. In a few seconds, she responded again: "Yes, there is, in fact, a way out. Check to the left of the computer terminals. There should be a door behind the resin." She heard a sharp object be unsheathed, then the squishing sound of resin being cut, followed by a door squeaking open, and armored boots clanking along the floor.

"Keep going down that hallway, you should end up at a door that goes back into the Main Hallway that leads back to the Research Lab," she said. She quickly went back to her work, studying the lock code on the intel that Jack had given her. However, she was cut off from her train of though when he contacted her again.

"We've reached the end of the hallway, but we can't get through. It's been blocked by a bunch of debris, and the door is locked too, from the looks of it." Katya reopened the blueprints, and looked over their area. She found an alternate route, which she redirected to them.

"You'll have to go back to the intersection, and take the left hallway this time. It'll lead outside, so you'll have to use the catwalks from there. It's the fastest way back here. Please hurry, the longer you're out there, the longer you're exposed to the dangers that still reside on the premises," she said. While she did still need them for her formulating plan, she couldn't help but care for their safety as what one would call a friend. Granted, she barely knew any of them, except for Jack's relationship to the island's events. However, she still didn't know enough of them to truly be considered friends. Given the circumstances, however, friends or not, she would need their help eventually. Right, now she had to break the lock on Weyland's code key. She set to work on hacking the electronic lock, but she kept being rejected. She could try to do it the simple way: use a brute hack that would input every single possible combination of numbers and/or letters into the lock until it got the right one, but that one could take days. She only had so much time to do these things.

She then began to cross-reference the lock with other data files she found. She found some new information on a document she missed. It was a list of the Xenomorph specimens. One of them was being mentioned over and over again: Specimen 6. She had no idea what made this "Specimen 6" so interesting, but it must have to do with the files. She typed into the commands: "Openfiles_Specimen_6". Immediately, she saw a blue override message on the previously locked file, and it unlocked itself. She quickly began to read through its contents, and was shocked that these were his diaries. She never knew that he kept audio diaries, he didn't seem like the kind of person to do that. She opened one, and listened to the message.

_The Xenomorph studies are going splendidly. We have taken several specimens, and have already gotten ourselves plenty of data on these creatures. They're magnificent…they can climb walls, they can sense prey using a sort of electromagnetic pulse detection, and their agility is unmatched. They are the biological marvels of our world. Specimen 6, however, has defied known practices of Xenomorphs during its life, yet is the perfect example of the deadly beauty that is portrayed by these wonderful beasts…The Queen hasn't been cooperating as much as we'd have liked, but all in due time. If we kill her, then we destroy the Hive mind, and the Xenomorphs would have tragic Queen is what talks to them, gives them orders, much like ants in a colony, and does so through this "Hive Mind" that the scientists have theorized exists in the Queen's abilities. If we can somehow tap into the Hive Mind, then we'd have control over the Xenomorphs. Brain scans are showing some large centers of activity in the brain of the Queen, probably the effects of the Hive Mind. Our researchers are currently figuring out the secret behind the Hive Mind. When that's done, we'll develop it into a device. Soon enough, we'll be able to completely control these magnificent creatures…Humanity is ready for a higher level of warfare, and these creatures will be key in asserting dominance over any group of people. People in our time are dwelling in the past, resorting to the use of such flawed creatures like these Pokemon. Humans are like insignificant bugs, struggling in the depths of their own corruption, believing in peace. There can be no peace without unification, and complete dominance over every person. With the control of these creatures, I will be the Harbringer of Humanity's uprising from the bowels of savagery, by force if need be._

Katya could only widen her eyes in horror as she continued listening to the audio diary. This man looked completely sane, but this recording of himself proved otherwise, and exactly what she had feared: this man was insane. What's worse, he wanted to assert control over all life by means of these horrid creatures! Granted, they still needed to tap into this "Hive Mind" that he kept mentioning, but she knew already that it was a critical error to underestimate the abilities of Weyland and his scientists. They were the best of the best, and bound to him by contract and by fear. Aside from her current discovery, she finally had what she was looking for this entire time: solid proof. The only information that she had been able to have access to so far were documents about the discovery of the temple, research notes on the Xenomorphs, and other documents that were mostly trivial and unimportant whatsoever. With this audio recording of Weyland himself, however, she had the solid evidence she needed to be able to shut him down.

She quickly began to copy the audio recording and save it onto a portable hard drive. The process took only about a minute, with the computer's powerful system. She pulled out the USB and put it away into a safe place. She would have sighed in relief if she had a human's mind or lungs to speak of. As was not the case, she simply looked back at the cameras, to where Jack and Ash were. They were approaching the heart of the Hive, the most dangerous place to be. She wanted to tell them to turn back, so she activated her communication unit.

"Ash, Jack, you must turn around. Find an alternate route; you are approaching the heart of the Hive, where the Queen is located. You are going to throw yourselves into grave danger!" she said. Their response came back distorted. She hadn't caught a word of what they had just said. "I cannot understand you, speak again?" she asked.

"We…-ear yo-…-proachi-…dead zon-…" was what she could make out, but just barely. So they couldn't hear her, and they were approaching a dead zone. She realized just how bad their situation currently was; she couldn't tell them of the impending danger that they were approaching. She could only hope that they would survive, but she knew that even that wouldn't be enough to save their lives. They'd need a miracle of some sort. She looked down from her work, and began to think about her plan for what she'd have to do when they died.

"Katya, how're they doing?" Misty asked as she walked up to the android.

"They're approaching the heart of the Xenomorph Hive," Katya responded. Misty's eyes widened, and she looked at the camera feed on the computers. She saw that they were approaching a hallway that was even more densely rigged with the resin than before. There were no aliens on-screen that she could see, so they were safe so far, but that would surely change.

"Tell them to turn back!" Misty yelled.

Katya simply shook her head sadly, saying "I wish I could warn them, but they're getting out of range of the communications unit. Their signal is dangerously weak by now, if not completely gone already."

Misty looked at the screens, and put her hand on one of them, helpless to do anything but watch as her friends delved deeper into the Hive, closer to their own demise. She shut her eyes, and lowered her head. She simply hated the feeling of helplessness, she always did. But what could she do? She would have cried, but she was too proud for that. Misty does NOT cry like a little baby girl. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked to see it was from Katya. She shook her shoulder, prompting Katya to remove the hand from it, and walked away. She did not care for any words of comfort that she could possibly have for her. After all, what did _she_ know about emotion? She was an android.

Misty sat down on a chair, and put her hands on her face in despair. She started feeling tired, and began to drift off to sleep. Right before she fell into unconsciousness, she silently prayed for Ash's well-being and survival.

**Alright, guys, hope you enjoyed so far! Be sure to leave a review if you like this story and/or want to see the rest of the chapters come sooner! Constructive criticisms both welcome and encouraged; if I don't know what I'm doing wrong, then I can't improve as quickly! Keep in mind, just because I am starting to spit out these chapters faster, doesn't mean that the quality of the chapters are going to go down. I will try to keep them as good as possible while updating as soon as I can. **

**Fun fact: this is my longest chapter so far, coming in at 10,760 words! Well, enjoy!**


	13. The Royal Guard

**Okay guys, here's chapter 13! Hope you enjoy!**

The Predator scanned his surroundings form his current vantage area; a tall building. He looked around, trying to see if he could find any other hostiles. Finding no threats, he jumped down from his vantage point. He opened up his wrist-bound computer, and typed in some commands. A three-dimensional figure of a pyramid was seen floating, being projected from the gauntlet. He typed in some more commands, and the figure zoomed out, now showing a three-dimensional "map" of the general area. A specific area was highlighted with a yellow hue, indication of his objective inside the Pyramid. He had to accomplish this mission, or drastic measures would have to be taken against the humans. He deactivated the holo-map, and unsheathed his wrist blades. With a single bound, he leaped up into a tree branch, and then leaped to the next.

Several bounds later, he saw a few red-hot blobs through his heat-seaking vision filter, coming from where he had just been some time ago, the human establishments. He jumped to another branch, and this time crouched low, observing. The two blobs became more detailed, enough to tell that these figures were humanlike. But appearance could only reveal so much about a potential prey. He used his mask to zoom in closer, and get a better view. He could see that they were armed, with several of their primitive human cannons visible even without zoom. They walked differently from humans he had seen before; even strides, and seemingly calculated, as if each step was designed for maximum efficiency. They suddenly stopped walking, and the Predator began to tense up. Had they detected him? Yautja technology was superior, but it wasn't without its own share of flaws, and these humans could surprise him often. The humans seemed to be standing idly for a moment. Upon further focusing, the Predator could hear the sound of radio communication. The figures raised their guns again, and the Predator once more readied his blades. They began to walk again, but weren't going towards his own objective. He'd let them be, if only to not draw any attention towards himself by eliminating scouts. He didn't have the luxury of time at the moment. If this were a normal hunt, however, then he'd take the pleasure of having trophies.

The scouts passed, and he waited till he couldn't see them until he decided to finally start going back to his objective. A half-hour of jumping through the trees later, he finally came across a large clearing. A large human establishment was visible at the mouth of a cave. Several indications of a past human presence were present; the old buildings; the stains of oil from machinery; among several other signs that he didn't feel like pointing out. He went ahead and started walking towards the mouth of the cave, still cloaked. One could never be too careful of any possibly lingering eyes in the area. His exploration into the mouth of the cave led into a dark hallway-sort of tunnel. The walls weren't naturally weathered; they were obviously changed and worn away by the human's machines. Small imprints could be seen where lights had been installed in order to see better. It was a good thing that he had his mask.

He moved further down into the tunnels, and further. At this point, a normal person would probably have had their ears pop from the depth, but not the hardened galactic hunter. He continued walking deeper in, past several more tunnels, and finally stopped. He looked down, and saw a large hole full of rocks. He checked his holo-map, and confirmed his suspicions: this was the closest entrance to the objective. However, as was evident, the original hole caved in, and now was unaccessible. He growled in annoyance, and checked the map for any other entrances. He saw another tunnel system leading to the objective, but it was not as quick or direct towards where he needed to get, but it would have to do. He closed the holo-map, and began to walk back. to where he came from. When he was back far enough, he stopped in the middle of the tunnel, and made a turn into another tunnel. In there, he saw that there was another cave entrance, but it had barricades on it with yellow markings. He pushed the barricades aside, and looked out into the natural cave formation beyond.

The barricades must have been placed for safety reasons; the tunnel he was standing on quickly turned into a rather steep fall, and ended in a floor of solid rock. Humans were weaker, and could not jump down without getting hurt, or back up if they happened to still have their legs intact from the fall. Unlike him, of course. He readied himself, legs slightly bent, his body prepared to jump. Then, he leaped forwards, and landed with a heavy thud. There was a small rumble as his heavy body slammed into the rock floor, but he wasn't hurt the least bit. He got up, and didn't even bother dusting himself off as he walked deeper into the cave. The cave walls in this section were natural, but the humans have probably already defiled it by now. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw another cave entrance, this one man-made, coming from another section of the island. He walked on, failing to ignore the defilement that these humans have brought upon their own environment. But it wasn't the time to be upset at how the humans treat their planet, he had a duty to accomplish.

Travelling further into the cave, he spotted a large hole, which he walked over to. He looked beyond the hole, and saw the rest of the immense cave that he was inside. Far across from him, a large human establishment sat on a rocky platform, with a human bridge connecting it to another tunnel entrance in a rock wall. There were several humans in and around the establishment, and they _were _in the way of his objective. He'd eliminate them swiftly, and stealthily. He looked to the rock wall at his side, and saw that several rocky ledges jutted out from the rock wall, forming almost a path for which he could jump on. This he did, and he kept jumping to each rocky ledge until he reached the closest ledge to the establishment. Luckily, he was close enough to the roof so that he wouldn't give his position way when he landed. He jumped, and landed on the metal roof with a _thung, _louder than he had anticipated. Several guards began to walk to the roof, and he quickly got down. He hid in a gap between two pillars, and two guards ran past him. He got out, and turned, only to have another guard bump into his chest. The guard, instead of stumbling or standing there, confused, immediately raised his gun, but was quickly silenced with a wrist blade to the neck. The blade ripped past the flesh of the guard, and his head rolled off to one side, white liquids sputtering from the "wound" where his neck and head connected.

The Predator quickly stabbed the man again, and threw him off the side of the ledge. These humans were synthetics! At least they still bled, which satisfied him enough. Two more guards came by, and raised their guns to attack. The Predator got behind some cover, just in time to avoid getting hit, and quickly unsheathed his Combi Stick. He darted out of cover, and threw the spear, catching one of them through the chest, killing him instantly. The other one had automatically moved to avoid it, giving the Predator the time to grab him and throw him off the side of the ledge as well. Knowing that stealth was no longer an option, he activated his plasma cannon, and he turned to shoot an incoming guard. The guard's chest exploded in a white mass of liquids and metal. He went down the stairs, and carefully walked along the room. He got to the end of it, to another set of stairs, which he went down. When he got out of the stairs and into another room, he instantly felt a sharp piercing pain in his back. He turned and swung his wrist blade, missing an android wielding a knife. The synthetic being slashed at the Predator's stomach area, but the larger creature hopped back, avoiding the knife. The android lunged forwards and took a stab at the Predator. His hand ended getting cut off, along with the knife. The Predator then did a backhand smack with his unarmed hand, sending the android to the floor. These synthetics were physically more durable than humans, but still no match for him. Now on the floor, the Predator proceeded to wildly stab at the android with his wrist blade, trying to find a vital spot.

As the Predator reduced the android into a scrap heap, the radio kept looping the same exact message over and over: "_This is an alert to all patrol units in the jungle or colony sector. Immediately change course, head to the Research Lab at Sector 7-D. Eliminate anybody that is found; this is a 3rd tier emergency. Any other scouts in the area that aren't in the Jungle or Colony sectors will remain where they are. This is an alert to all patrol units in the jungle or colony sector. Immediately change…"_

…

The hallways seemed to be getting narrower, or so Ash thought. The walls seemed to start to shrink, and he felt like he was being trapped. He didn't like being in this place for too long, but then again, who would want to actually stay inside the nest of hostile alien creatures? He wasn't feeling to good about their current course of travel; it felt as if they were going deeper and deeper into this hive. A grunt of pain, coming from Jack, caught his attention. Ash turned to look at his friend, or so he had taken to referring to him as such. Jack was limping a little, visibly favoring his left leg. This had been happening for the duration of their trip. It seemed that the little time that his wounds had to heal, despite having been mostly treated, were still taking a toll on Jack's body. Several times they had to stop for Jack to take a quick break, where he would occasionally prod at one of the wounds, and grimace as a result. It was admirable how Jack would put on a brave face in the possibility of death at any given moment, but Ash knew better. From what little time he did know about Jack, Ash could tell that Jack was a proud person, one who doesn't like to be weak, and one who would obviously not want to let others know about his own weakness.

Ash kept his eyes and ears open as he walked. Things were quiet for the moment, but things could change all too quickly. So far, they had been lucky, having not met many aliens at all. In fact, the only contacts they had were a few stray aliens here and there, with none of them coming in groups greater than two at a time. Their footsteps had been muffled by the resinous substance that adorned the walls and floor, which was probably the reason why they hadn't been assaulted yet. Ash was happy of this, but one could never feel too safe…he was starting to sound like Jack. Ash smirked as he thought of himself, dressed in Kevlar armor, armed to the teeth with guns and knives. It was a funny thought: him, a lowly, naïve Pokémon trainer, being a hardened soldier. That would probably never happen, he decided. He didn't have any of the desirable qualities in a good soldier: he usually deviated from the norm, he couldn't handle the rigorous training, and most of all, he couldn't handle the sight of blood very well. So far, he had gone with the philosophy that either he killed them, or they killed him, to deal with the blood and killing. It had worked well for him so far, but it could only last so long.

The hallway turned into another split, and they all stopped. Ash looked down one corridor, but it was very dark, and hard to see anything too far away without their flashlights illuminating the darkness. "Hey, look!" he heard Jack say. Ash looked over to him, standing next to a sign on the hallway. "It says, 'Holding Facility'. That was where all the Xenos were being held, right? That must mean that it's this way!" Jack said. "Come on!" With that, Jack started at a slow jog towards the direction of the Holding Facility, with Ash and Pikachu falling closely behind. Thankfully, Jack's definition of a slow jog also worked for Ash, probably because of Jack's wounds. The hallway finally ended, and led to an electronic door, which opened upon sensing their presence. The door opened out into a large, open room.

They looked around at the room, and quickly deduced that this must have been a different sort of holding facility. There were no Xenomorph holding pens that they could see; no small rooms with reinforced glass windows; no security gun racks with surplus ammo, as they had found earlier; it was all different. The room was very open and large, with high walls and tall supporting beams. The part of the hallway they were standing on led to a set of stairs that went down a short distance before leveling itself out evenly. The entire room was mirrored along the middle, so that the two halves were identical. Ash looked around, and saw that there were a large set of double doors at the end of the room, along the middle.

"Maybe that's the way out," Ash said, pointing towards the doors. They were extremely large, taking up the entire wall that they resided on, all the way up to the ceiling. Jack simply grunted in affirmation, and walked off, stepping over the rails that divided the two halves of the room. Ash and Pikachu followed closely, not wanting to linger too far behind their security. When they entered the room, they didn't notice much of a change in scenery; there were still high walls, supporting beams that held the ceiling up, and the two identical halves of the room. Along the middle of the room, however, there was what seemed to be a marked-off area, with several open eggs planted on it. Ash instinctively recoiled, and stepped backwards. Something was off, however. It was too…unguarded to have been a xenomorph holding pen. There were no walls, no electric fences, nothing of the sort. Maybe this section was were the eggs were held, Ash presumed. His presumption was invalidated when he noticed the huge metal harnesses that hung from the ceiling.

The harnesses were immense, and placed very high up, but in several different locations, presumably where the arms and legs went. He looked around, and saw a long glass viewing window high above on a wall, placed so as to have maximum visibility of the harness, and whatever had contained it. He looked back at the harnesses, and almost gagged when he saw the giant sac-like structure that hung from one of the lower ones. The sac was deflated, and had a sickly brown color to it, like a rotting fruit. Jack walked over to it, and inspected it.

"Don't worry, it's not alive. But it used to be," Jack finally announced. Ash walked over to the thing, but kept a comfortable distance. Several eggs were around the end tip of it, which led Ash to wonder if the sac and the eggs had some sort of connection. What kind of creature had to be chained up by the ceiling, and had a giant sac sticking out of it? Suddenly, he heard beeping, the alerting beeping of a motion sensor detecting movement. Enemy movement, Ash knew.

Ash and Jack looked around, their guns moving up to meet the threat, but it was for naught. The beeping stopped, and there was no more movement. This sort of thing happened a lot, with the motion sensor tracking movement of a xenomorph, but there was no attack. Ash liked to think that the xenos disregarded them in favor of another task, or that they hadn't been detected, and the xeno passed by without taking notice. Their guns were lowered again, and they let down their guard again, but only slightly. Just then, Ash spied a computerstation of some sort in the corner.

"Hey, look over there," Ash said. Jack turned his head to look at the object of interest, and walked over to it. Ash followed behind him, and looked at the computer station as well. It had a myriad of different colored buttons, and little marks indicating the function and use of some of the buttons. Jack's eyes widened in realization, and he turned to Ash.

"Ash, get Pikachu to power up this computer!" Jack said.

"What is it, Jack?" Ash asked.

"It's a control booth, and it has a communication device. We might be able to contact Katya with it," Jack explained quickly, "now hurry it up!"

Wasting no time, Ash quickly turned to Pikachu. "Alright buddy, you know what to do! Thunderbolt!" he said.

The little yellow pokemon nodded with determination, and went over to the power supply cables.

_Pikaaa-CHUUUUU!_

The electricity began to flow from Pikachu's cheeks into the cables, and into the computer. Thankfully, Pikachu had enough sense to tone down his attack, so as to not short-out the computer. The computer shone to life, and Jack quickly went to work on contacting Katya.

However, the computer powered down very soon after.

"Don't stop, keep on hitting it with Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu quickly followed orders, and electricity flowed into the computer once again. This time, however, Pikachu kept a steady stream of electricity focused on the computer.

"How long does he have to keep this up?" Ash asked. He had all the confidence that Pikachu had enough endurance to power the machine, but even Pikachu had limits.

"Just long enough to contact Katya at the medical facility," Jack quickly answered, madly typing away at the machine. Finally, he typed in one last string of commands, and he put his mouth to the microphone.

"Katya, do you hear me? Answer back."

A moment later, Katya's calm voice came into his hearing: "Yes, I can hear you perfectly fine."

"Alright, so what was it that you were trying to tell us earlier?" Jack asked.

Immediately, Katya's now-slightly-rushed voice answered, "You are quickly approaching the very heart of the Hive. You must turn back, quickly! There's something there that you must avoid at all costs!" she said.

Jack's expression became puzzled, as did Ash's. He didn't know what to expect of the heart of the Hive. Certainly, they'd be knocking on death's door if they woke up any of the inhabitants, but so far, they hadn't seen that many xenos. In fact, they hadn't seen any for quite a while now. Ash was starting to doubt whether or not they were just lucky or something else. Regardless, whatever they were getting close to wasn't going to be enough to force them to undo all their progress towards the medical bay. They had gone too far already, too far to turn back now. Whatever it was that Katya was afraid of, however, must be very dangerous to make her fear for their safety enough to want to tell them to turn back.

"Look, we've had to face a bunch of these guys before," Jack spoke into the microphone, "so I don't think that we'll have much trou-"

There was a ferocious roar, and the motion sensor went crazy. They turned around just in time to see a large mass burst through the glass panels of the elevated viewing room, causing shards of glass to fly out in all directions, most of them following the mass. It landed - or more like crashed - with a resonating _thump, _and shards of glass followed it in its descent, all the way down until they bounced harmlessly off of its black skin. It rose, and Ash could not help but let a gasp come out of his mouth. He even heard Jack swear silently to himself, though still audible. Pikachu quickly cut off the electricity flow to see whatever it was that had broken through the glass, which in turn, cut off the power supply to Katya, and the woman's voice went silent on the microphone.

The creature was a xenomorph, no doubt about it. It shared all the characteristic traits of all the others they had seen: it had a black, chitinous exoskeleton, a long, bull whip-like tail with a blade at the end, and no eyes or facial features to speak of. However, it was also entirely different: it was enormous, for starters. It stood much taller than Jack, much taller than any other normal xenomorph they had seen before. It was maybe even taller than those hunters they had seen earlier. It also seemed to favor standing on two legs, as it was currently doing so. But the most prominent feature that could be seen was its head: it was very large, and instead of being banana-shaped, it was crested, and very detailed. Only the very tip of its head, where its face and mouth was located, had a smooth dome on top. Its tail swung around behind it like a restless serpent, and silvery fangs glistened in the dark. It roared, long and loud, balling its claws into fists and holding them high up into the air. It was enough to make Ash and Pikachu cover their ears, and to make Jack cringe. Ash felt one of his Pokéballs wiggle of its own accord, but he was too frightened to notice. It then got on four legs, and charged at them.

Jack got in from of them, and raised his assault rifle, firing off a burst of rifle rounds. The sound of gunfire rebounded across the entire room, as well as the sounds of the bullets harmlessly bouncing off the xenomorph's thickly armored head. Jack's eyes widened, and he dove to avoid the incoming battering ram. Ash did the same, and landed on his stomach. One of his Pokéballs fell off, and rolled a little ways off, but Ash didn't care to notice. He flipped over, and shouted to Pikachu: "Use Thunderbolt, now!"

Pikachu did as he was told without hesitation, and a yellow bolt of electricity flew at the xenomorph, and connected. The creature did not seem to be fazed by the electricity, but it certainly felt something, as it whipped around to face the little yellow nuisance. It lashed its tail out at Pikachu, but a well-timed Quick Attack got him out of harm's way. Another thunderbolt was fired at Pikachu, and a giant black claw flew at him, which was deftly avoided. The creature roared in annoyance, and charged again, this time at Ash. More bullets ricocheted off of its hide, and it turned to face Jack, who was walking backwards and firing at the same time. The creature snarled, and rushed at Jack again. Ash shouted a warning to Jack, and got up quickly. He saw Jack manage to jump out of the way again, but the xenomorph had anticipated this. It stopped charging, and quickly got up onto two legs. It turned, and swung its tail low, managing to hit Jack on his legs. Jack fell down face-first, and cried in pain, dropping his gun as well. The xenomorph then turned towards Jack, and grabbed him by his leg. Jack was lifted up clear off the floor. The alien raised Jack to its face level, and snarled at the soldier, who was helpless to do anything at all.

Suddenly, the fallen Pokéball wiggled furiously, and finally opened up. A bright red light burst out from the Pokéball, unleashing the power inside, and bathing the area in a deep red light. Ash shut his eyes at the sudden brightness, and shielded himself. When the light finally died down, Ash looked back to the battle. His eyebrows shot up, and his mouth opened slightly. Standing there, where the Pokéball was, was a large, orange dragon-like creature. It had two wings, with the front being blue-colored, while the back remained orange, sharp claws, a long and thin, yet powerful, neck, and a dragon-like head with two horns on the back of its head, along with dark eyes. A fire burned at the tip of its tail, giving off a healthy and powerful glow. It was Charizard.

Charizard growled, and then roared at the creature that was holding up Jack. The xenomorph turned to the new challenger, and gave off a curious hiss. This new creature, it was not there before. Where had it come from? Regardless, the xenomorph knew that this new challenger was dangerous. It could feel its power, it could sense its aggression. This was no ordinary offender. This creature was definitely much more powerful, and deadly, than the other offenders. It let go of the offending creature it was holding, which began to crawl away. It turned completely towards its new foe, and observed it.

Ash didn't know what had caused Charizard to come out of his Pokéball. Was it because Jack was going to get killed? Or was it to protect him instead? Ash thought carefully, trying to think about his Pokemon's behavior. Charizard was always a very proud and competitive Pokemon, possibly more than some of the others on his team. However, Charizard was also very disobedient. He wouldn't listen to Ash's commands, and for that reason, he refused to call him out in battles. Sometimes, Ash wondered if Charizard even cared about him. Ash looked at Charizard, who was standing his ground valiantly, his face twisted into a snarl. The xenomorph was much larger than Charizard, and probably physically stronger as well. Why would Charizard want to fight this thing, which was so frightening and powerful at the same time? Ash looked into Charizard's eyes. He felt like he could see something in them, a sort of fire burning inside of them. It was powerful, and it was definitely what was driving Charizard's motives. It was then that Ash understood why Charizard had decided to come out then and fight the creature: he knew that this thing was dangerously powerful, and was definitely stronger than him. It was simply too good of a challenge to pass up, and Charizard wasn't going to miss out.

Charizard spread his wings to look more intimidating, and spewed a stream of fire into the air. He then roared a challenge towards the mighty beast, who, in turn, roared back. The xenomorph then charged at Charizard. "Look out!" Ash shouted. Charizard quickly flapped his powerful wings and jumped. His wings easily carried him into the air, safely out of its reach. The xenomorph snarled, and jumped towards the airborne Pokemon, who merely flew a little higher, and roared back. Ash scurried away to a hiding place where he wouldn't be seen. Behind the computer station was a good spot. He could still see Charizard, who was flying out of reach of the xenomorph. Charizard then landed several feet away from the xenomorph, and opened its mouth to unleash a giant billow of flames at the xenomorph. It screeched in pain, and leaped out of the stream of fire. It then pounced at Charizard again, but it was only met with the floor as Charizard once again took to the air.

It had seemed like a mostly one-sided battle at first, but Charizard was quickly proving his strength. Charizard began to make bombing runs at the Xenomorph, unleashing a torrent of flames on it as he flew past, but still high enough to be out of reach. The creature was quickly becoming agitated at the antics of this flying creature, and began to leap into the air, in hopes of catching him. It was to no avail, however, as the fire dragon simply avoided the increasingly agitated xenomorph. Ash quickly looked to see if he could spot Jack. When he did, Jack was trying to open a crate. Jack looked over to Ash, and motioned towards himself, telling Ash to go over to him. Ash looked back at the battle. The alien was swinging its arms and tail around in a frenzy, but Charizard managed to avoid them with increasing difficulty. Ash made a mad dash over to Jack, with Pikachu following him. Ash looked up, and cried in surprise when a fireball nearly missed his head. Pikachu dodged some flames, and jumped over a few knocked over barrels, as did Ash. Ash skidded to a stop when the alien's claw suddenly slammed the floor in front of them, and he looked at the face to which the arm belonged to, which was snarling at them. A quick bump to the head by Charizard was enough to refocus its attention back to the annoying flying dragon. While it was distracted again, Ash ran towards Jack, who was still struggling with the crate.

"Jack, what're you doing?" Ash asked.

"Help me open this crate, it's got a weapon inside of it!" Jack said.

The box was labeled: "WARNING: HEAVY ORDINANCE" and "HANDLE WITH CARE". The logo of Weyland-Yutani, which was essentially just a Y merged with a W, was emblazoned onto the side of the crate. Ash looked for anything that could help open the crate. He saw a lone crowbar lying on the floor a few feet away. Ash ran to it, and was quickly knocked back when a gust of Charizard's wings hit him. Charizard was getting overly confident, and his flights were getting closer and closer to the Xenomorph. Ash quickly grabbed the crowbar and ran back to Jack. He handed the crowbar to him, and Jack quickly began to open the box.

Charizard came in close for another Flamethrower attack, which missed when the xenomorph dodged it. He circled back around and flew lower, intending to not miss. The xenomorph readied itself, then jumped. Charizard rolled to one side to avoid getting hit, but the Xenomorph's claws slashed at Charizard's wing. The claws easily tore through the Pokemon's wing, causing Charizard to roar in pain. He began to flap his wings in a frenzy, but it was no use. Charizard quickly lost air control, and he crashed into the floor. Charizard's tail flame changed from a red and orange flame to a bright blue-white. He was getting enraged at this creature, fueling the strength of his flames further. He quickly got up, and turned to see the Xenomorph running at him, the claws on its hands raised and ready to strike. It swung its claw at Charizard's head, but Charizard went low, and shoved the alien back. It was much heavier than Charizard, by a great lot, but Charizard was strong too, strong enough to force the alien to take a step back. It quickly readjusted itself, however, and grabbed ahold of the Pokemon. Charizard struggled in its grip, but it was futile. Charizard could only look as the creature opened its saliva-dripping maw to finish it off. However, Charizard had it right where he wanted it.

Charizard opened his own mouth, and a powerful flamethrower erupted from his mouth and engulfed the alien's head. It screeched loudly, and threw Charizard across the room, where he landed with a thunk. Charizard got up, and turned to the alien, who was pulling back its tail in anticipation of a strike. Charizard was not quick enough to dodge the attack. The tail moved at a blinding speed, and the blade stuck Charizard in the stomach. Charizard was far away enough to not get impaled, but the blade did cut deep into him, and it slashed a bit across his cream-colored stomach area. Blood began to seep out of the fresh wounds, and Charizard growled in pain, curling up slightly into his stomach. The alien ran at Charizard, and knocked him to one side with a powerful swipe of its claw. Charizard was sent to the floor, sprawled onto his side.

The fire dragon tried to get up, but its arms gave away, and he collapsed back onto the floor, breathing heavily. The flame on his tail had shrunk considerably, showing just how damaging those few attacks had been. The alien roared victoriously, and walked over to Charizard. He tried to get up, but he was simply too weak to do so; the tail attack had knocked the breath out of him, and he was still bleeding from his wound. The alien grabbed Charizard, and hoisted him up, so that the fire dragon was facing it. It opened its maw, and snarled at the dragon, who dimly growled back weakly in defiance. The alien's tail came into view, rearing back its bladed head to strike like a serpent.

The sound of weapons fire spontaneously erupted, and the alien screeched in pain as bullets began to tear at its hide. It dropped Charizard to the floor, and began to flail angrily as the weapon continued to fire. The weapon fire finally ceased, and the alien turned to its origin. It saw Jack holding a Smartgun in his hands. The smart gun was another of Weyland-Yutani's custom-made guns, with the ability to seek and detect targets behind cover, and fire heavy-caliber rounds at around 1200 rounds per minute. The alien snarled at them, and charged. Jack fired the gun again, and the xenomorph was stopped by the sheer force of the bullets' impact. The rounds tore right through the alien's hide, but it refused to die. Its high endurance could only keep it alive for so long, however. It put one of its arms in front of it in an attempt to shield itself, but several lucky bullets tore right through the arm, and cut off the limb entirely. Pale green acid blood spurted out in a miniature shower as the alien screeched in indescribable pain. The acid blood caught on the walls and floor, and began to eat right through them with ease. The gun's barrel was turning a bright hot orange color as hundreds of bullets left the gun in a very short amount of time. Another volley of bullets hit the xenomorph's lower body, and it was sent to the floor. The alien squealed in pain, and clawed at the floor.

The gun's barrel suddenly got extremely hot, and it overheated. The bullets stopped coming out, and smoke spurted out from the gun. The alien was still coming at them, crawling towards them with the best of its abilities. Green acid blood made a trail on the floor as it crawled, like a lowly lizard, towards its prey. Just then, a heavy weight was placed on its tail. It turned around, and lashed out at the weight - or better put, it tried, as it did not have very much mobility in its current state. Charizard was undeterred as he placed his foot on the alien's tail. He gave one scornful growl at the despicable beast, before opening his mouth and blasting the alien with one last Flamethrower attack. The alien flailed and screeched, the sounds echoing and resonating across the whole room. At last, its struggles ceased, and it gave one last whine, much like a beaten dog's, before finally coming still. The Flamethrower ceased as well, and Charizard took a step back to look at the charred corpse. He nudged it once with his foot, trying to see if it would stir.

It didn't move.

Charizard roared triumphantly, spreading his tattered wingspan proudly. Ash looked at his Pokemon both with pride and with amazement. But both those expressions changed to one of horror. Charizard's roaring died down, and turned into a pained growl. The fire dragon looked at the large bloody hole in its stomach area, his breathing ragged and heavy. He tipped forwards, and collapsed onto the floor.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted, and ran towards his Pokemon. Charizard's eyes were closed, and he was still breathing abnormally, both from the fatigue of the battle and the pain of the wound. Ash looked him over; he had wounds on his side where the claws had found their mark, bruises from the crash landing, and the bleeding hole where the tail had struck. Ash began to frantically check to see if Charizard was dying, and if he could save him. Jack went over, and tried to look for a pulse. Charizard opened its eyes, and looked at his trainer, who was looking him over with worry etched onto his face. Charizard gave a weak growl of protest, but Ash didn't listen to him.

"Don't worry," Jack said, checking Charizard's pulse. "I'm sure he'll live. Granted, he'll be in pain and weak, but his wounds aren't fatal. He was lucky enough how he is now; the tail barely missed his heart, and was only deep enough to draw blood."

Ash looked at his Pokemon. He couldn't believe that Charizard had just survived that. He had gotten lucky, though, with Jack's timely intervention, but he had been able to go toe-to-toe with that thing and almost beat it. Well, he got as close to beating it solo as any fire-breathing dragon could come to beating a ravenous, biologically-perfect predator. Ash grimly went over to Charizard's Pokeball, picked it up, and turned to him.

"Charizard…return."

A thin red light shot out from the poke ball as it opened up, and hit Charizard. Charizard turned into a red mass of light and energy, and the large mass then flew towards the Pokeball. The Pokeball shut itself closed, and remained still. Ash put it back into its holding position, and turned to Jack, who was once again, working on the computer station.

"Come on, we need to contact Katya again, tell her we're still alive."

Ash walked over to Jack, and began to help him work the computer.

…

"Katya, are you there? Can you hear us?"

Jack's voice would startled Katya, and she went to answer the microphone.

"Yes, Jack, I can hear you. What happened? Why did you cut off the transmission?" she inquired.

"We got attacked by some huge version of the xenon. It was like three times as big, and it had a big decorative head crest. Do you know what it is?" Jack asked.

Katya's eyes widened at his description of the xenomorph. She obviously knew what it was, but she could hardly believe it herself. Had they really gotten that close?

"…Katya, are you still there?" Jack's voice returned.

"Jack, Ash, listen to me," she said, her voice grave. "That creature you have just encountered is one of the guards of the Hive, the Praetorians."

"Guards of the Hive? Well what are they doing all the way in here? Shouldn't they be outside of the Hive, actually _defending_ it?" Jack asked.

"Because they don't actually defend the Hive itself. They defend what's _inside_ the Hive: the Queen."

There was a pause. Heartbeats went between them, as Jack and Ash, she assumed, absorbed what they had just heard.

"The…Queen?" Jack asked.

"Yes. These creatures function mostly like insects in many ways: their home, their cooperation, and their reproduction. The Queen is how they all reproduce. The Queen lays the eggs with face huggers inside them, which, in turn, impregnate another host, which spawns a xenomorph. That xenomorph then finds either food for the colony, or another possible host, and brings it in to be impregnated. You're getting dangerously close to the Queen's quarters, and it will probably be much more dangerous than any other section of the Hive. I suggest that you all turn back, and go another way."

"No." The response was quick, and unexpected. Katya's expression mimicked confusion, and she listened intently for an explanation. "No," he repeated, less forcefully this time, "We're not going back the way we came."

"Jack, you don't understand, the Queen-"

"Is the only method of reproduction that they have. Think about it, Katya," Jack retorted, his voice becoming more filled with emotion than he would have probably liked. "If we kill the Queen, then they can't reproduce. There won't be any more aliens on the island to threaten anyone else. Katya, you've seen what these things can do. No doubt that they can swim too, and when they start feeling that the island is getting crowded, then they'll decide to move out, and somehow, I'm sure that they'll find a way. It'll make it easier for everyone in the long run if we get rid of these things as soon as possible." Jack's knowledge on these creates was mostly from experience, and from Katya, and was limited at best. But there was some sense in what he was saying, Katya knew. It would be easier for them if there were no aliens, but it would no doubt be dangerous for them. They were not acceptable losses, however, and if they were lost, then it would just be that much harder.

But she was one to take risks in times like these.

"Alright. Do what you need to. Just please, be careful. You're not exactly replaceable, you know."

"Alright. We'll come back, don't worry. This'll be a pier of cake. A very acid-filled, teeth-baring, all-around dangerous piece of cake. We'll be giving you access to the other areas of the Lab so you can help us out if necessary, okay?"

"Yes," she said simply.

With that, Jack cut the transmission feed.

…

"Jack, are you sure about this?" Ash asked, stepping over a piece of resin that would have tripped him had he not seen it earlier. They had been walking for a while now, and he was starting to get tired. Not to mention, he was also beginning to be on the end of his nerves, seeing as how they were all deep inside the Hive, and how they were slowly approaching their possible dooms.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've got 4 rounds of grenade-launcher shots in this gun now, and that'll probably be enough to take it down. I just wish I had them sooner…just sit tight. We'll get through this yet."

Ash dearly hoped so. It would definitely have been more useful in their last situation with the Praetorian, had they not found a stash of ammunition inside another crate afterwards. It seemed like these people had the foresight to load up on weapons, but must have not had the time to either distribute them, or the aliens had taken over too quickly. Either way, there was usually a box of ammo or a rack of guns where they could reload their weapons. Ash just hoped that they would have enough ammunition to kill the Queen. Judging by the size of those harnesses he saw earlier, he would have to say that the Queen was extremely large, and powerful, if the harnesses had to be made of reinforced metal. But the locks didn't looked forced or broken; maybe someone sabotaged the machinery and unleashed the Queen? Or maybe one of the aliens got out and freed her. At this point, nothing would surprise them regarding the abilities of these creatures.

"Will it be enough? I mean, those harnesses were pretty big," Ash said, focusing his attention on Jack.

"The Big Bitch shouldn't be able to take 4 grenade launcher shots at once."

"You saw how many hits that other one took, it didn't even go down with several hundred bullets, AND Charizard's Flamethrowers!"

"Look," Jack said, exasperated. "There's a reason why She's being protected by such powerful guards. It's probably because she can't fight. Just like in Chess, except that she's more like the King than the actual Queen."

"…I don't play chess…"

Jack scowled, and said ,"This isn't a game. This is _real._ We're walking into a possible deathtrap, and you're spitting out _jokes?_"

Disbelief was obvious in his voice. Jack was clearly not one for joking. Ash understood how he felt, despite them being so different in their situations. Jack was a hardened soldier who knew how to fight and dealt with blood and gore on probably a regular basis. Ash was just a Pokemon trainer who couldn't stand the sight of blood for extended periods of time. By now, though, he regarded himself as probably having grown up a bit. He knew what horrors the world could bring, and knew of what a real near-death experience was. He had seen enough death, enough pain, to know that the world is full of bad things. Sometimes, life puts you in a position you wouldn't rather be in, but he couldn't help but just deal with it. And deal with it he had.

The motion sensors began to ping once again. They didn't even bother shouting an alarm to each other, both knew that the other had heard it. Pikachu had reacted just as he had before, getting on all four paws and readying electricity in his cheeks. The first alien jumped at them, and it was quickly shot down with a bullet to the head. Another came out, and Ash, after a moment of hesitation, shot it too. He stopped shooting before it had died, however, and Jack had to finish it off. This got a guilty look from Ash, and a judging glare from Jack. Yet, neither said anything, as more aliens began to converge on them.

They began to walk backwards and shoot, and when they had to reload, they ran. Pikachu kept them at bay with his electricity, which mostly stunned them as opposed to actually killing them. Another stream of bullets took down another alien on a wall, whose corpse was dodged swiftly by another alien. Finally, however, they thinned them out to only one alien. The alien jumped, and landed on Ash. Ash struggled, and he saw the alien's tail behind it. Ash shifted his entire body weight to one side during the alien's moment of slight imbalance, causing the tail to miss, and Ash to roll on top of the alien. Ash scrambled backwards, and ran. The alien quickly got up and pounced at Ash in midair. The alien once again landed on Ash's back, but it didn't bite or scratch or impale him. It had been dead before hitting Ash, having been shot dead in mid-pounce.

Ash, however, was knocked off his feet and onto the ground. He fell into another room, sprawled onto his stomach. Jack hurriedly got to his side, and began to help him up. Then, they heard a hiss.

It was low, and menacing. But it wasn't like any normal Xenomorph. It was enough to make the hair at the back of their necks rise up, and to make them break out into cold sweat. Even Jack was visibly scared, his eyes widened in fright. Slowly, they all turned around, not wanting to, but feeling the impulse to do so. It was like one of those horror movie scenes, where you simply couldn't pull your eyes away from the screen, even though the rest of your mind was screaming to look away. However, they _did_ turn around. And they all gasped in horror at what they saw. From a first glance, Ash could tell that it was large, very large. It was the same sleek black color that characterized all xenomorphs. A large, grotesque external sac-like organ was outfitted on its tail area. It was a disgusting creature, with its extra pair of arms, and saliva-dripping jaws. Yet there it was, sitting on its perch like royalty on their throne, on their seat of power. It seemed to have a higher sense of authority, in its disgusting regality, sporting its huge head with a decorative crest. Its crest formed a crown-like carapace, where the soft part of its head, being the mouth, was hissing at them from under said carapace. It pulled its head out, much like a turtle, and hissed at them, louder this time. Only one Xenomorph could look like this.

It was Her.

It was the Big Bitch Herself.

**Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this! I'm sorry if this chapter seemed short, I wanted to finish this chapter up and post it before I go on a trip for the 4th of July. So, consider this a festive chapter! Happy 4th of July, to all the American readers! **

**And remember, it takes a long time to make this chapter, when compared to the relatively little amount of time to just click a button and type down a few words. So please, review! I like reading them! Bye now!**


	14. Old Friend, New Enemy

**Hey guys! Well, this is the penultimate chapter! Wow, I can't believe that I've made it this far. This is going to be my first completed story!**

Ash's first instinct was to run. Just as it should be, considering the fact that a giant alien creature the size of a bus, or even bigger, was staring right at them. But then, he noticed that the Queen wasn't moving at all. It just stood there, hissing and snarling at them. It looked as if it was chained, or restricted somehow, by the egg sac and the resin around it.

"Why isn't it moving?" Ash asked, gun raised.

"Because it's immobile," Katya's voice came in, "The Queen cannot move while it is attached to its egg sac."

"Then let's hit her where it hurts!" Jack said, readying the assault rifle's under barrel pump-action grenade launcher. He then ran forwards, closer to the Queen in order to get a better, clearer shot on it. Ash ran after him, readying his own rifle to fire, but feeling reluctant do do so. However, they failed to acknowledge the large amount of unopened - and therefore dangerous - alien eggs that were scattered all around the large room where the Queen was stationed.

As they walked near some of them, several eggs opened up, opening up like leathery flowers in full bloom. The inside revealed a pale-colored, fleshy spider-like creature, a sheen of slimy fluids coating its body, fresh from its egg. They all leaped out of their receptacles, and began to scuttle towards the potential hosts. Said hosts stopped in their tracks, and turned as they noticed that the eggs had opened, and its contents were currently creeping towards them.

"It's me or them, it's me or them," Ash repeated to himself, as a volley of surprisingly well-placed bullets found their mark in one of the facehuggers' bodies. Behind him, Jack was shooting away at several facehuggers. They all walked backwards as they fired their weapons at the creatures. They were very tricky to hit, being so small and fast, they were able to maneuver surprisingly easily, and they darted from cover to cover, behind eggs, bent pieces of metal, and other things they could hide behind. The eggs were not ideal cover, since they could be shot, and the facehuggers seemed to know this, as it seemed to be used for cover only in the most desperate of situations.

Pikachu bounded this way and that, zapping whichever facehugger he saw. One of them leapt at him, but a Quick Attack knocked it out of the air, and a Thunderbolt finished it off, levying it a black charred corpse. Another face hugger fell to Ash's bullets. Just how many of these things could there be?

Looking at the Queen, his question was answered. The Queen lowered the tip of her egg sac, and the sac began to churn and shift. A bulge appeared at the tip, and the bulge moved until a shiny, leathery egg popped out partially. The egg was planted on the floor, and it stayed there. It opened itself up, and another facehugger came crawling towards them. The Queen simply shifted the position of her egg sac, and planted another, and another.

"Jack!" Ash yelled. "The Queen is making more of the eggs! If we don't stop her, then we'll be fighting these things forever!"

Jack risked a glance over to the Queen, and another facehugger jumped at his face, its legs spread out wide in an attempt to latch onto his face. Jack only managed to lift his gun in time to block the incoming creature. The creature angrily chittered, and its legs flailed around as its body attempted to grab onto a large enough solid surface to hold it, finding the gun to be too small for its body. Jack solved both their problems when he threw it off, and shot it to death.

"Ash, hold them off for a while!" Jack yelled. "I'm gonna stop the Queen!"

The Queen simply hissed as it observed the tiny humans fighting and killing its spawn. They were killing her children, her beloved children, and she would make sure that either they died, or they became parts of her army of children. One of the humans got closer to her, its facial expression set with determination. She smelled danger in this human, who was probably attempting to end her reign, and she would have none of it. She did not think these thoughts in language, for even Her mind could not comprehend the Human Language, but She well understood their concepts, such as determination and malevolence. She had plenty of both of those.

The Queen hissed at Jack as he neared, and Jack raised the gun. Her chitinous body was probably heavily armored, as the grenade that he fired exploded upon contact, but didn't penetrate very deeply at all, only evoking an annoyed snarl from Her. Switching up tactics, Jack then aimed at the first part of the body that he thought was most important to eliminate at the moment: the egg sac. He fired off one grenade launcher round to test the effect. The grenade shot out at a blinding speed, and penetrated the thin membrane of the sac, before exploding inside the sac. It caused the sac to partially rupture internally, and the Queen roared in pain. The roar reverberated throughout the room, and pierced Jack's ears, going into his bones as well. But it only fueled his determination and anger.

He pumped the grenade launcher, and fired off another one. A giant explosion inside another part of Her egg sac cued another pained roar. She flailed her arms around angrily, wanting to kill these invaders herself, but finding herself unable to do so. She was bound to her burden, to her burden of having to carry her children with her, and she was going to pay for it dearly. She roared again, despite not having been shot at. She was calling for her children to aid her.

Jack pumped the grenade launcher yet again, and fired the last grenade into her egg sac, completely rupturing the organ, and causing it to deflate. It ceased its pumping motions, and no more eggs spawned out of it. The Queen roared defiantly, and continued to try and spawn eggs, not understanding its crippled ability to reproduce.

"Okay! I've taken out her egg sac!" Jack yelled. "That should buy us some time, at least."

"Great, now how do we kill her?" Ash asked.

Katya's voice came in: "The Queen is located on top of the furnace in that room, just give me a moment and I shall try to activate the furnace. It will take a moment to warm up, so you will have to deal with the rest of the eggs in the meanwhile."

It seemed that Katya had things under control on her end. Now, all they had to do was watch out for the eggs. Prior to their entrance, the Queen had layed a staggering amount of eggs. They had plenty to keep them busy while Katya set work to warming up the furnace. Yet another egg opened up, and Ash shot it before it could scuttle out. The egg's fluids splashed all around as the bullets tore it apart, along with the facehugger. Ash heard his gun click when he pulled the trigger, and looked at the electronic LED ammo counter at the side. It read "0".

He pulled out the currently empty magazine, and grabbed for another one. He tried to copy Jack's movements, and pulled out a magazine. He fumbled with it for a moment before it clicked into place. He spun around to meet another facehugger, and pulled the trigger again, but only a clicking sound was heard, yet again. Ash didn't have time to react as the facehugger jumped at him, and Ash barely had time to lift his hands to catch it. It flailed its limbs wildly as it failed to latch onto his face, and Ash struggled to hold back the creature; it was much stronger than it looked, as Ash was currently experiencing its strength firsthand. The creature stuck out a strange tubelike organ from its center, which flopped around whilst dripping juices, and Ash threw it aside in disgust. A Thunderbolt ended its life when it hit the floor.

"It is almost done, get ready!" said Katya. She then began to count backwards from 5.

"Five…four…three…two…one! Now pull the lever at the base of her platform to activate the furnace!"

Ash looked towards the Queen, and the platform She was on, and saw that there was a lever that was positioned on the furnace, facing directly forwards. But he was too far, and there were still a few eggs between him and the lever. He looked towards Jack, and saw that he was even farther, and PIkachu was busy tending to his own opponents. Ash looked forwards, and shut his eyes. He would probably regret what he was going to do later.

He ran.

He ran forwards, past several eggs, which opened up at sensing his presence, but he dashed right past them. He didn't glance back once, didn't even ponder the possibility of one of them pouncing at him from behind, knocking him down, and impregnating him. Suddenly, he was at the lever, and heard a small chorus of snarling. It was then that he looked back. The cavalry had arrived, in the form of Warrior Xenomorphs. The warriors snarled, and leapt down from their respective wall perches, slowly walking towards them. By this point, all the eggs and the face huggers inside of them had been eliminated, but the warriors would prove to be more than enough of a replacement for them. Ash turned around, and pulled the lever down, to the maximum temperature.

Almost instantly, the flames inside the furnace blew up, and the temperature spiked incredibly. The furnace roared, and an eruption of flame shot up from the center of the furnace. The incredibly large wall of fire engulfed the Queen, who screamed in pain, louder than any other time before. Ash was sent walking backwards, both from the intense flames, and the piercing, nightmarish screech of the dying Queen. The flames roared like a volcano, with all the ferocity and rage of a dragon. The Queen could only scream in pain as the flames hungrily licked at her chitinous armor.

The other aliens immediately screeched, and charged at them. Ash turned around, and remembered to put a round into the chamber this time, before firing off his bullets. Adrenaline mixed with what little practice he had in firing a gun meant that his aiming was much better than normal, and that he was able to kill a warrior alien before it even got to jump off of its wall. But more came for him, easily replacing their fallen brother. Jack and Pikachu did their best to fight off the aliens, making sure to keep a good distance between themselves and their enemies.

The fire began to die down, Ash could tell from the considerable lack of heat he sensed behind him. He didn't hear anything from the Queen, meaning that she was dead. Despite this, the aliens were still attacking them, which only meant one thing: they had failed. They had killed the Queen, and eliminated the Hive Mind, yet the aliens were still coming at them. Jack's ultimate plan had ultimately failed.

"Jack! She's dead! But they're still coming!"

"Yeah, I see that!"

"Jack, we're going to die in here!"

"Don't you say that!"

Another couple of aliens fell by their attacks.

"We've gotten the attention of all the aliens in the Hive, there's no way we can survive!"

"Ash, stop talking like that, dammit! We are not going to die in here!"

More aliens poured out of the holes in the walls, all of them eager to sink their fangs into human flesh. Seeing all these aliens, being so outnumbered, Ash felt like giving up right there and then. His arms felt heavy, and his mind became blurred. His stomach had butterflies in them, ones of nervous anticipation of death. He would die here, and never be able to see his mother again, or his pokemon, or realize his dream of becoming Pokemon Master, or see Misty again… The last thought surprised him. He suddenly felt his facial expression turn into a scowl, and turn from fear to determination. He was not going to die in here. He just had to survive. Something inside of him refused to let him lay down and die. He wasn't sure whether it was self-preservation, pent-up anger, or something else, but he knew that he had to live.

He raised his gun, and fired off a burst of weapon fire, catching an alien in the head. He swirled around, and fired at another. It was far away, but he managed to get a bullet or two into it, just enough to slow it down so Jack could finish it off. He continued firing, and killing, still repeating "It's either me or them" to himself.

Jack fired left and right, killing as many of these things as he could, but he felt it wouldn't be enough. He ran out of ammo, and reloaded quickly, before firing again. Then, he heard a low, ominous hiss behind them.

Turning around, Jack saw that the Queen was hunched forwards, wounded, and in pain, but definitely still very much alive. It lifted its great head, and hissed at them. They had not failed just yet, if they could kill it.

"Ash, She's still not dead!" Jack said. "If we can kill her, then there's still a chance to win this!"

Ash's late reply came: "So how do we do it?"

"Katya, can you power up the furnace again?"

"I am sorry," her voice said, "but there is no more power for another blast."

Jack cursed, and shot another alien. He quickly looked around, scanning the surrounding area, as he should have done so earlier. It turned out that the room must have been where they developed their weapons, or the Xenomorph-related ones, explaining the need for a furnace. Several uncompleted products lay around on the tables, and on the floor, and on shelves and racks. He backed up into a section, and looked to see if he could find a suitable gun; there had to be at least one finished gun they left here before everything got taken over.

His eyes caught sight of a cabinet that had a warning label on it, warning him of a possibly explosive element with the cabinet. His attention was refocused as another alien jumped at him. He avoided it, and it reared up on its legs to bite at him with its inner maw. He struck it hard with his gun before it did so, however, and killed the alien where it stood. He then turned and made a mad dash towards the gun cabinet.

He was not as lucky as Ash, and ended up getting pounced on the back at the midpoint to the cabinet. A multitude of Quick Attacks from Pikachu caught its attention, and it got off of him to chase the yellow Pokemon. Pikachu was extremely fast and agile, but these things could easily match Pikachu's agility and speed. Pikachu caught the attention of several aliens at once, and got most of them to focus on him, distracting them from Jack. He took the opportunity to run to the cabinet, and open it. HIs eyes widened with surprise and joy as he pulled out the flamethrower from inside the cabinet.

Its ammunition came in a separate cabinet next to it, and he quickly and hastily loaded the device. This, however, also meant that he used up more time, time that could be used to burn aliens and save Pikachu. The little Pokemon was rounding up all the aliens to the best of his abilities, but he was quickly becoming worn out. Eventually, he ended up cornering himself, and the aliens all rushed at him. Pikachu used a Quick Attack to break the circle of aliens surrounding him, and they followed him. He ran straight to Jack, who was just finishing reloading the flamethrower. Pikachu reached Jack, and Jack pulled the trigger. A jet of fire flew out of the nozzle, and all the aliens immediately tried to evade the fire. A few of them were not lucky, and caught fire very easily. The flames hungrily licked at their skin, and the aliens died in agony, exploding. By this point, Jack had learned that the aliens exploded when killed either by fire, of by any other method of killing that induces extreme trauma. The aliens kept their distance, and tried to circle around to try and get Jack from behind, but Jack kept them at bay with the flames. Pikachu used his lightning strikes to stun them long enough for Jack to kill them, given that his lightning had little effect on the aliens other than being able to stun them for a while.

"Jack!" Ash yelled. "How do we kill her?"

"She must be weakened!" Jack yelled back, pulling the trigger again and setting another few aliens ablaze. "Try to use the grenade launcher!"

He had grenade launchers? Ash looked at his gun, and turned around to face the Queen. She weakly hissed at him, and then roared defiantly. Ash looked at his gun, and tried to find the activation for the grenades. He finally did find it, and set the gun to fire the grenades. He aimed at the Queen, and let a grenade loose. The gun rocked back from the force of the grenade leaving the gun, and Ash absorbed it with his body. The grenade exploded at her legs, and she roared in pain. Ash pumped the grenade launcher, expelling the shell, and took aim again, this time aiming higher. The grenade exploded on her chest, and she roared in pain. The smoke cleared, revealing that her chest-plate had cracked, revealing green flesh that dripped acidic blood onto the floor. Apparently, the fire had softened her shell, making her more vulnerable. The Queen roared again, and her head lowered for a moment. She slowly raised her head to look at him, and Ash pumped the gun once more. The Queen opened her mouth, and hissed at him. Then, it roared, and a wet snapping sound was heard. The Queen began to struggle, and the egg sac began to shift about. Then, there was a wet popping sound, and the sac suddenly fell apart, falling off her body. The Queen slowly, but surely, pulled herself out of the egg sac. A colossal tail emerged from within the sac, and it swung around like a giant whip behind her. The Queen was free.

Ash panicked, and began to walk backwards, away from the Queen. The Queen roared, and began to run at him on two legs. She moved incredibly fast for her size, it was unbelievable! Ash screamed, and dove just in time to avoid a giant claw smash the floor. He got up, and ran, gun still in hand. The Queen lashed out at him with her tail, but he was already out of range. He turned to her, and raised his gun once more. She charged at him, running faster than he ever could on two legs, and opened her mouth to roar. Ash heard Jack call his name, but he couldn't do anything for him. This was his moment, and his own fate would be decided by himself. He fired the grenade, aiming high at her head.

The grenade flew forwards, at an almost blinding speed, and went right into her mouth. Inside her open, roaring mouth, the grenade exploded. The explosion was enormous, and the frontal section of the Queen's face was blown out by the force of the grenade. Bits of her skull flew everywhere, the green flesh splashing acid bloom on the walls, the floor, and on Ash's chest plate. The Queen didn't even roar in pain this time. She stood there for maybe one more second, possibly two, it didn't matter, it seemed like eons, before she slowly began to fall over on one side. Her body collided with a heavy thud against the floor. There she lay, lifeless, limp, dead. Ash stared in awe at his doing, before noticing the sizzling on his armor. Ash screamed when he saw the acid blood on his chest plate, and dropped his gun in a panic, trying to remove the metal armor. The acid was biting right through the metal like fire to paper! Jack was at his side in an instant, and helped Ash remove the armor. Ash began to cry in pain as the acid burned deeper. The metal chest plating finally flew to one side, a large acid-induced hole burning all the way through its center.

Ash still had tears in his eyes, and looked at his chest. The acid had managed to burn his clothes, but not eat at his skin, luckily. Only a burned hole was on his shirt now. They were all alerted to the conjoined chorus of alien screeches and squeals. They looked at all the aliens in amazement. All the aliens were writhing and thrashing about on the floor, all of them obviously in some sort of pain or shock. They began to curl up into themselves, into a fetal-position like pose, their tails between their legs. They had killed the Queen, therefore destroying the Hive Mind, and now they were all in mental shock.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Jack said, picking up and handing Ash's gun back to him. Ash grabbed his gun, and they all began to run away from the aliens in the room, all of them weakened and in-shock.

They all ran and ran, running right past the bodies of more in-shock aliens. The effects that killing the Queen had on these things was astounding. It was definitely a major blow to the Xenomorphs, meaning that they had one less problem to worry about at the moment.

"I can't believe it actually worked!" Ash said.

"Why would you doubt me? Have I let you down before?" Jack replied, stepping around another alien, who was softly squealing.

Then, Jack activated his headset, and talked to Katya: "We've done it. The Queen is dead."

"The Queen? She's dead? You killed her? How did you survive? I am surprised, but pleasantly so," she said.

Jack chuckled, and replied, "I don't think you'd believe it, but Ashy boy here killed the Big Bitch." He shook Ash's shoulder. "Now, all the xenos seem to be in some sort of pain. I think we've done our jobs."

"Indeed. Now, you must quickly leave the Hive, and come here."

They all continued walking, and reached another room. This one stank of death and decay, and several bodies were all piled along the floor, mostly eaten or decayed. It was another facehugging room, with several opened eggs inside. They paid no attention to any of the bodies, except Jack. What he saw made him stop right there and then. Ash stopped, and turned around, looking at Jack, who was staring intently at the bodies.

"Jack?" Ash asked.

Jack didn't respond. Instead, he dropped his weapon, and scrambled towards the bodies, getting on his hands and knees. He began to overturn the bodies, as if looking for something in them. Finally, he stopped, and began to intently stare at one body in particular.

"Jack, what is it? What's going on?" Ash asked. Jack didn't respond again, but kept staring at the body, unmoving.

"These…are my friends."

Ash looked at him, puzzled. He walked over to Jack's side, and looked at the corpse. The person was dressed in body armor, and had a gun strapped to his hip. Several pockets full of ammunition could be seen, but the thing that Jack was staring at was at the uniform's emblem. It matched the one on Jack's uniform. These were his squad-mates, or the ones that got taken away. Jack looked them over. The faces of these people were barely recognizable, but he knew that these had to be his squad-mates. He closed his eyes, and began to pull off their dog tags. Just then, his eyes caught sight of one soldier with an object a few inches away from his limp hand. Jack went over to it, and investigated it. His eyes widened in realization.

"Ash," Jack said. "I think we may have just gotten ourselves out of this mess!"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked. His facial expression mirrored Jack's expression of surprise and realization when Jack showed to him the radio he had in his hands.

"Is that…?"

"Yep, sure as hell is," Jack said, his face morphed into a grin, "it's a radio." He began to look over the radio, inspecting it for any damages done to it. It was surprisingly unharmed, having survived the rough handling of the aliens, and the soldier's impregnation. "It's not broken, it still works! We can call for help, and get off this island!" Jack said, excitement in his voice. He got up, still smiling at his marvelous find. None of them could hardly believe it; they had managed to salvage a working radio from a dead soldier's body, and now they could finally get off the island and go home! Ash didn't know any other point in his life when he was more excited and happy to see a radio. Jack put the radio away, and turned to Ash, before activating his communications unit once more.

"Katya," he said, "you're not gonna believe this, but we just found a radio."

"A working radio? Does it work? Can we use to call the mainland?" she asked.

None of them noticed the facehugger egg opening up behind them.

'I'm pretty sure it can," he said. "We're coming back ASAP, so we can finally get off this island. Are you ready to leave?"

The facehugger was crawling out of the egg. Its little legs scuttled forwards, and it stood at the edge of the egg. It detected Jack, Ash, and Pikachu standing with their backs to it. It leaped to a wall, and began to soundlessly crawl along it, inching towards the three.

"Yes, I have everything I need. We shall leave immediately."

"Perfect. We'll see you at the la-"

The forced pressure on his face from the body of the facehugger prevented him from completing his sentence.

"JACK!" Ash shouted. Jack grabbed at the creature on his face, and tried to pull it off, but it would not budge. Its fingerlike appendages were clamped around his face, and its tail was wrapped around his neck, cutting off air to his lungs further. Jack stumbled around, tripping over his own feet and falling to the floor. He thrashed as hard as he could, trying to get this thing off his head. His hands left the facehugger and went for his hip, to his pistol. He put the pistol to his head, and aimed so that it wouldn't hit him instead. However, when he pulled the trigger, only a clicking sound came out. He had no more ammunition for the pistol. Jack kept thrashing about, pounding at the creature as hard as he could do so, but the lack of a flow of oxygen to his brain was making him dizzy. He still went on and continued to beat and pull at the thing, while Ash and Pikachu could only watch in horror. Finally, the lack of oxygen took its toll on Jack, and his wild thrashing began to cease, until he lay motionless on the floor.

"Jack! Jack, wake up!" Ash yelled. He didn't dare go near the thing, in fear that it would hurt him, or that he would hurt Jack. He looked in horror at his friend, being impregnated as he watched. He looked around feverishly for something to help him with, a weapon, anything. He didn't see anything of use, and began to shake Jack's shoulders in an attempt to revive him, which ultimately failed. Ash looked at his friend, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Jack was dead. Technically, he wasn't dead yet, but he may as well be dead already. There was no way of removing a facehugger that he knew of, and Katya had no more supplies for another embryo removal. Tears slowly trickled down his cheeks as he looked at Jack. Ash wiped them away, and stood up.

He began to walk away, but then he started to think: should he kill him? Should he do something? Ash looked back at Jack's body. There was no way that he could bring himself to kill Jack, it simply wasn't something he would do. Ash looked back to the exit, then back to Jack. Finally, he walked back over to Jack's body. He looked him over, and then grabbed his arm. He then got a good grip, and began to pull. Jack was heavy, being weighed down by his ammo and armor, and his raw weight alone, but Ash wouldn't give up. He couldn't just leave Jack here like this, on the floor, incapacitated. Pikachu grabbed Jack's other arm, and helped pull the face hugged soldier to Katya.

…

Katya was readying everything for their departure. Supplies, the last of their spare ammunition, and other things were put into a duffel bag. She worked as fast as she could, trying to get out of here as soon as possible. Just then, she heard the door open, and she looked to see Ash, Jack, and Pikachu come in. But there was something odd going on; Jack looked pale, and he was limping, apparently to the point of needing assistance to walk properly, as he was leaning against Ash's shoulder for support. They hobbled inside, and Ash set Jack down on a chair. He laid back, and sighed, before violently coughing into his fist. His face was a deathly pale, as if he had all his blood drained. Katya walked up to them, fearing for Jack's life.

"What happened to him? Why is he like this?" she asked. Jack coughed again into his fist, once.

"I got jumped by one of those creepy crawling bastards," he said, settling down again. "The little bugger fell off my face, but he did his job, alright. I can already feel it moving inside of me," he said, putting his hand to his chest an groaning afterwards.

"I haven't called in for support, but they probably won't be very believing. Hopefully, they're gonna be sending some guys down here. We've got-" he coughed again, his body lurching forwards once violently, before settling down. "We've got to get to the beaches, to where they can see us."

Katya looked at him, and put her hands behind her back, and in a soft voice, said, "I'm sorry, Jack. I cannot help you. You are essentially…doomed to die."

Jack simply laughed at her, and slapped his knee. He sat up straight, and said, Of course I am. But, I can't help it. I'm a soldier, it's an occupational hazard."

Katya merely looked at him, and Misty came by, and saw Jack in his state.

She gasped, before running over to Jack, and saying, "Jack, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, " he said, standing up from his chair. "Until the fucker decides to burst out of my chest, then I won't be okay."

Misty's eyes widened in realization and horror, but she didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. Jack was going to die before he got off this island, that much was certain. Ash had always high hopes of leaving the island, but he never though about the losses that would accompany their victory. Of course, their luck had to run out at some point; they had rescued Misty, gotten to the research lab, killed a Predator, ventured deep into the Hive, killed the Queen and her guards…they were extremely lucky to have gotten this far to begin with. Jack pulled out the radio, and placed it on the table next to him. He adjusted the frequencies, going over each one, listening in as well as he could for radio chatter. He got to the appropriate channel, and cleared his throat.

"Overlord, this is Blue Eagle. I repeat, this is Blue Eagle, over."

There was a moment of silence, and no sound came out of the radio.

"Reaffirm, did you say 'Blue Eagle', over?"

"Yes, this is Blue Eagle," Jack said, "do you copy, over?"

"Blue Eagle, acknowledged. Please state your name, and rank, over."

"Overlord, this is Corporal Mundy, over."

"Corporal? I thought your team was wiped out!" The man on the radio seemed surprised, and possibly knew Jack himself.

"Overlord, I am still very much alive. Over."

"Blue Eagle, where's the rest of your squad? Let me speak with the Lieutanant. Over."

" Overlord, the Lieutenant's dead. I'm the last one left. Over."

There was a silence.

"Blue Eagle, roger."

"Overlord, this is Red Eagle, sitrep, over."

"Command send."

Then, Jack grabbed a nearby map, and looked it over. He then began to spit out a bunch of different grid points and coordinates.

"…We are currently inside a large building, hard to miss, in the island. Requesting Helo Extraction. Will begin to move to beaches for maximum visibility, grid B6 K8," Jack said. "LZ will be green, approach form North. How copy?"

"Overlord copies all. Dust-off in 20 seconds, be there Blue Eagle. Out."

The transmission was cut, and the room was left in silence. Jack had managed to persuade the man to send a transport, which meant that they were finally going to get off the island. It was only too bad that Jack couldn't live long enough to see home again.

"Well," Jack said, grabbing his ever-trusty gun, 'we're not going to get out of here by standin' around, let's go!"

The soldier began to walk out, and the rest of them followed him. Ash's friends looked at him, confused. It wasn't normal for someone who's been doomed to death to be so…not unhappy. It just wasn't natural. But Jack, as they had learned, is not a normal man. A normal man would have given up and died by now, which Jack had not done. They walked out of the Research Lab, and began their walk into the jungle. Jack led them up a steep slope, full of lots of rocks, and they stopped following him.

"Jack, the beaches are closer this way! Over there!"

"Yeah, but a jeep goes faster than we can walk, right?" he replied, still climbing.

They had forgotten all about the Jeep, except that it had run out of gas.

"But wait, I thought it ran out of gas!"

Jack halted in his movements, then sighed.

"Yeah, I forgot about that…damn," he said, climbing back down. But then, in mid climb, he stopped. Ash looked around, and he saw Jack who was tilting his head around, as if trying to hear something. Ash could only hear a faint ping ping pinging sound.

"What is it?"

"The motion tracker," Jack said, jumping down from the rocks. He looked at his motion tracker, and his eyes widened. "There's a whole bunch of guys comin' right at us! We gotta move, now!" he said, breaking out into a jog into the opposite direction. Ash and his friends barely had time to look anywhere, whether it be the surrounding jungle to see the hostiles, to each other, giving themselves puzzled looks, or their motion trackers, to see if their sensors also detected movement, before they chased after Jack. They went into the Jungle, and began to break into a slow run. Their ammo and equipment bounced as they ran, and the dirt soundlessly parted as their boots stomped on it. Ash looked around; surely, there were no more aliens, right? Was the effect of the death of the Queen as staggering as they thought? Or was it actually only temporary? He hoped to not find out.

"Katya, are we going the right way?" Jack asked. Katya had brought, among the many things, a map of the island on a sort of device.

"Yes, the signaled beach area is this way, " she said, pointing to the direction they were heading. "Supposedly, that is where the helicopter shall land to pick us up."

"Great, we should be off this-" Jack began, but he cried in pain, and grabbed his chest. He fell forwards, right onto the dirt floor. Ash and his friends went over to him in an instant.

"Jack, Jack! Are you alright?" Brock asked. Jack only groaned in pain, and held his chest. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He was starting to sweat, and his breathing had become more erratic. It was such a terrible feeling, seeing someone in pain, and not being able to do anything about it.

"Come on, Jack, you need to get up!" Misty said. She tried to pull him up, but he was too heavy for her. "We need to keep moving, those guys back there are gonna catch up with us!"

"Too late."

Upon hearing the voice, everyone's heads whirled around, seeing an android holding a gun. He was armored, and had a mask on his face. The gun he had was pointed at them. Ash and Brock raised their guns, and Pikachu got into a battle position. Misty and Katya helped Jack onto his feet. Jack then turned to look at the android. At this range, even Ash and Brock couldn't miss the man. It was three against one, but the one was a synthetic being who had no vital areas to speak of. However, the odds suddenly turned against them when several more androids popped out from the thick jungles. They all filed up, and surrounded them instantly. They all had guns pointed at them, from several different angles, with different kinds of weapons. This was not just a patrol, this was a strike team. To eliminate them.

Jack bent down and grabbed his gun, then raised it in a flash. The androids pointed their guns at him, and Jack dared not to fire. It was useless anyways, they were outnumbered by a good amount.

"Hold your fire," said the first android, putting his hand into a fist and raising it. The other androids lowered their weapons. The commander stepped forwards, and walked closer, to Jack.

"Identify yourself."

Jack growled, and said, "Fuck you."

The man lowered his head, and began to chuckle. Out of all things, it laughed, and that in itself was a surprise, not from laughing in the face of a living death threat, but because androids felt no emotion. Jack was caught off-guard with this, and his eyes widened with surprise. His weapon, however, did not fall.

"That is no way to speak to a friend."

"You are NOT my friend," Jack hissed, aiming his gun at the man. "Nobody that tried to kill me and my friends is a friend of mine."

"Come on, now,did you already forget about me?" the man asked.

Jack would have asked him something, or said some snide remark, but the android began to take off his mask. Jack cocked an eyebrow, and the mask fell off. Jack's eyebrows both shot up all the way, and his mouth went agape. He was visibly shocked to see the man, as was Ash and his friends. The face behind the mask was not synthetic, but a real, organic, human's face.

"No…it- you… you're not…"

"Oh, but I am, Jack."

The man walked right up to Jack, and put his hand on the gun. He got a firm grasp, and yanked the gun out of Jack's grasp. Jack didn't even try to get it back, he was too busy staring at the man, not believing what he was seeing. This couldn't be happening, this was too surreal to be true.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Ash asked. What had caused the normally even-headed man to be so out of it all of a sudden?

"Ash," Jack said, quietly, "I know this man."

"That's right," the man said, grinning in a manner that made Ash become unsettled.

"It's me, Tony."

Ash looked back at the man. He had black hair, and icy blue eyes. He had a small, faded scar on his left cheek, but the rest of his face was devoid of any imperfections. A thin black mustache curved around his smiling mouth and connected at the beard on his chin. There was an air of superiority around him, a certain quality in him that demonstrated that he had been through some of the toughest situations and gotten out of them, along with a sense of strength, both physical and moral, and a steely determination that couldn't be broken by the strongest of hammers. All the makings of a good soldier.

"I…I can't..I mean, how-?" Jack said, obviously surprised to a very, very large extent.

"Let me explain myself," the man said. He turned around, and faced the island jungle.

"As you may know, me and Jack have been very good friends, and I hope that he still is," said Tony. "We had gone through the toughest situations, through thick and thin, and were top-notch in our teams. Well," the man said, "except that I was better than Jack."

"Still the cocky bastard I know…" Jack mumbled, and Tony smirked.

"Cocky with a right to be so," Tony said. This man made jokes, yet there was still something about him that screamed "dangerous".

"As I was saying," he continued, "we were sent with an elite team of soldiers to this island to identify and eliminate the hostile forces. Unfortunately, our whole team was killed off, and the transport chopper we came in got blown up. We had gotten into a shelter, and one lone alien attacked us. It almost killed Jack, but I managed to draw its attention away. Unfortunately, I ended up getting knocked out and carried away."

"Tony, I tried to help, but there was nothing I could do! My arm-"

"Be quiet, and let me talk." Tony's voice was strong, and commanding. Jack instantly shut up, a very surprising move on his part.

"But while I was being pinned to a wall in an alien territory, a group of soldiers came by and killed them off. They rescued me, and took me to the man that owns this island facility: Karl Weyland."

Weyland. That name made Jack's blood boil. He absolutely hated that man, but it was shadowed by the relief that came with finding Tony, and the shock of what he was learning of him.

"So that's it, then?" Jack asked. "You're working for him now? For Weyland?"

"Jack," Tony began, "he saved me. He took me in, and took care of me. He taught me about the Xenomorphs, and his plans. He is a good man, Jack, admirable in almost every trait. At first, I wasn't sure, but he's let me see his way. I know what he knows, and everything's been revealed to me."

"Tony, Weyland's making you his bitch," he snarled. "Whatever he taught to you about the Xenomorphs, his plans, they're all insane! This man is insane!"

"No, this man is a genius. He knows how to control the xenomorphs, and he plans to use it to the best of his abilities. They're very admirable creatures, really."

"What could you possibly admire about these creatures?"

"I admire its purity," Tony said. "It's a survivor, like me, Jack. Like us. We are still so much alike than you think, old friend."

"I am nothing like you, you son of a-"

Jack clutched his chest in pain. High stress levels will only aggravate the parasite, he remembered. Then, he got an idea.

"Now, now, Jack," Tony said, wagging his finger. "Don't get too worked up, now."

Jack didn't say anything, but instead, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the dog tags of his past squad-mates. He then reached to his own neck, and pulled off his own tags, and handed them to Ash. Ash accepted them, but before the Pokemon trainer could ask anything, Jack said, "Take 'em. You'll know what to do with 'em."

Then, Jack walked forwards, closer to Tony. He looked him in the eye, giving him a scrutinizing glare, and Tony only smiled at him.

"Madman," Jack said. "You're a madman, a monster. You're nothing like the Tony I knew," he said, his chest feeling in much more pain. He ignored the pain as well as he could.

"What are you saying? I am the real Tony," Tony said. "The Tony you knew was uneducated, unenlightened. That Tony died, along with the rest of our squad. No, this Tony, this Tony, is the one that you should get to know better. "

"I don't want to be friends with a killer," Jack said. He barely suppressed a yelp of pain from the organism inside of him.

"Jack," Katya whispered, "stop getting stressed-out. It will only aggravate the-"

"Shut. Up." Jack hissed through his teeth, turning his head. Katya looked at him, surprised, but didn't utter another word. Jack looked back at Tony.

"You son of a bitch. You're nothing but a grunt, a pawn, in his mind. He's only using you for his own personal gain."

"I am fine with that, because his personal gains match with his company gains: to make us superior," Tony said. He began to pace around, walking circles around the not-moving Jack. "We're living in the dark ages here, buddy! We can't keep dwelling in the past, because it's the now and here that matters, and if we don't change, then we'll never be ready for the future. Humans have depended on Pokemon for long enough. They've been hindering us, keeping us from reaching our real potential!" Tony looked at Pikachu, disgusted. "They're pathetic, and weak, and flawed in so many ways…we'll never get further with them. We - our species - are ready for a new kind of unification. We're here, living divided amongst ourselves. But these Xenomorphs provide the perfect means of uniting everyone under one rule, one flag. Think about it: Humans finally having world peace, no more conflict. And even better, we secure humanity the position of the ultimate species. No other group will be able to best us, we would be better than anyone else!"

Tony was extremely emotional about what he was saying, and Jack knew that he was firmly believing what Weyland was telling him. Jack knew in his heart that he could never hope to convince him to leave Weyland's side, or to abandon his beliefs. He didn't have a choice here.

"I'm pretty sure humanity doesn't need the help of a couple of freaks of nature to do well. We're doing just fine, and these Pokemon do anything but hinder us. They help us!" Jack said. "You blind idiot, can't you see? This plan of yours is doomed to fail! Everyone's going to pay the price in the end!"

Jack stepped closer to Tony, his chest feeling extremely painful. He gave a small grunt of pain, but held onto his stomach instead. Tony gave him a look, but didn't say anything.

"Jack, you're so…different from when I first met you. You were outgoing, happy, and even joking. Look at you now! You're uneducated, you have yet to be enlightened. But I promise, that everything will be the same as before," Tony asked, extending his hand, "If you joined Weyland's team. I'll be sure to give you a good spot on his list."

Jack looked at the hand, and then back at Tony. Everything could be back to before?

Ash watched in horror as Jack accepted the handshake, saying "Okay…okay, you got it, buddy.

** Well, I hope you enjoyed. Keep an eye on those alert boxes, because I'm going to finish this up as soon as possible! And I hope you also take time to review, it really makes my day just to get 1 review. Okay, later!**


	15. The Finale

Ash's jaw swung wide open as he watched Jack shake Tony's hand. He couldn't believe that Jack would give in to the promise of power, and superiority. How could he side with that maniac? Tony was helping someone who was very, _very_, powerful, and possibly out of his mind, if he wasn't so already. By the way Jack was shaking his hand, with a from, earnest grip, Ash knew that Jack was serious about what he was doing. It made him angry, very much so.

"What?" Ash yelled, gripping his gun tighter. Jack turned to him. "What are you doing? You're siding with Tony? With Weyland?"

"Ash, you don-"

"These guys are insane! You even said so yourself! Why are you agreeing to work with them? And what about the ches-"

"Trust me, Ash, I _know_ what I'm doing," Jack said, his voice serious, but in a non-threatening way. Ash looked at him peculiarly, because by the way Jack had said that, he knew that something was up. Jack was planning something, but what?

Just then, Jack turned to Tony, and grinned.

"It's good to have you back, man," Tony said, reaching around to give him a back pat. Just then, Jack cried out in pain, and clutched his chest. He began to convulse violently, and tried to stay standing. Tony was immediately at his side, and grabbed Jack's arms with his own.

"What's the matter, man? What's up with you?" Tony asked, genuine concern in his voice. Jack only looked at him with a pained grimace, and then a scornful scowl.

"I'll…see you…in hel-"

Jack screamed in pain one last time, and his chest lurched forwards one last time. There was a sick snapping sound, and Jack's chest finally gave away to a giant spurt of blood. A writhing, screeching chestburster appeared in the center of the bloody pulp in his chest, covered in the red stuff, and Jack screamed once more in pain. Tony's eyes went wide, and he instinctively tried to back away, but Jack grabbed onto his arms with all his strength, pinning the man right where he was. The chestburster let out a shrill scream, and lunged at Tony's neck.

The chestburster's tiny, yet extremely sharp teeth tore through Tony's neck, who screamed in pain. Jack finally let go, having gone unconscious from shock and pain, and would die very soon. Tony made grabbing motions towards the chestburster, but could not grab the slippery serpent, who was still biting deeper into Tony's neck. Everybody backed away from Tony, and the guards just stood there, puzzled on what to do, now that their commander was dying. Just then, a hiss added to the sounds present, and an alien lunged at a guard. The fully grown, 350 pound xenomorph tore through the metallic plating on the droid with ease, and more aliens joined the onslaught.

Panicking combat droids fired around, trying to shoot the speeding beasts. Their bullets would find their mark, but more aliens would replace their fallen sibling. Bullets maimed, claws slashed, and guns smacked. The combat androids' inhuman strength competed with the xenos's and the androids' combat tactics and programming were put against the xenon's cunning and cooperation; it was a relatively even fight. Ash and his friends used the distraction of the aliens to start running away. Ash looked at Jack one last time. Jack, the man who had managed to survive long enough to be able to help them, and ended up dying while helping them, even to the very end, would never leave his memory. He knew that Jack would have a special place in his heart, as a true friend, someone who, up to the very end, gave his life for another cause, at the expense of his own. Ash shut his eyes, which were tearing up, and turned to run.

Tony began to make choked, gargling sounds as the creature began to bite into the arteries on his neck. Tony finally fell down, writhing weakly. The chestburster finally decided to let up, and slithered away, towards its older siblings. Tony lay there, dying from blood loss, next to Jack. Two friends, also enemies, would die next to each other. Both of them had similar lives, and when they crossed, they intertwined. Yet, as fate would have it, they were forced against each other, and in doing so, they led to their own self-destruction. Truly, Fate had a cruelmethod of dealing with things.

…

Ash broke through the tree line, running out into the bright tropical sun. He kept running, until he reached the water's edge. The white, foamy waves lapped at his feet, and pulled back into the ocean, before repeating itself. Ash breathed heavily, sad tears creating shiny trails along his cheeks. The foot prints behind him reminding him of where he had just been, what he had witnessed only a short while ago. Jack had done so much for him, for them…he felt like he owed him something. But he couldn't repay him now, he was dead. Dead meant forever, and that is how long Ash wanted to just curl up and wallow in grief.

He just stood there, looking out to the ocean, the same entity that brought them here. The same one that kept them here. The same one that created a horizon in the distance, in which a tiny black speck was visible in the sky. Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Katya walked up behind him, making waving motions to the helicopter in the distance. Ash, however, looked only to the horizon. He couldn't see past the horizon, only what was there before it, like the ocean, and the approaching helicopter. He thought about what Jack had told him back in the Research Lab, how he wasn't afraid of dying. Ash began, for once, to seriously think. Death, he thought, was at the end of life. Like the horizon, being the end of his sight. Being as similar as they were, then death was like a horizon, only showing him what he can't see past, and making him look back to see what has already happened. Jack was in a better place know, resting in peace, knowing that he helped him and his friends, and helped put a stop to Weyland's plans of domination. Ash couldn't see him, or sense him, but he knew that Jack was probably looking down at them with a smile. Jack wasn't just a friend, he was a hero. His body may have gone, but his spirit would live on. Ash had a good memory of Jack, and that was how it was always going to be.

The Helicopter's blades kicked up wind in all directions, causing their hair to go wild. Ash's cap caught with the wind, but Ash caught it on the fly. He looked at it, and smiled. This cap reminded him of how things were before he landed here. He and his friends, and his Pokemon, they could all just forget every care in the world. Now that he had been so close to dying, so close with the dying, so close he could swear that he could taste it, he knew the value of life. Life was precious, and Ash smiled, knowing that he still had most of his ahead of him, and that he could spend it with Pikachu, Brock, and Misty…

The Helicopter made its landing a few yards away, and they all ran towards it, except Ash, who was still thinking silently to himself. A man in a Kevlar uniform and holding an assault rifle was the first person they saw, and he stepped off the helicopter to take them in.

"You're the guys who sent the distress call and requested for pickup?" he asked.

"Yes," Katya said, "we are."

The man looked around, observing the group before him: a woman who had metal plating visible from a large "wound", a girl whose eyes were wide with fright, a boy who was wearing metal armor mixed with standard-issue uniform and equipment, and another boy, father-off, who was admiring his cap. All of them were spattered in blood, and caked with sweat and dirt. He saw nobody here who looked qualified - or educated at all, in that matter - in military radio usage or frequencies.

"Which one of you is part of Blue Eagle Squad? I know that they didn't enlist any of you," said the man, "I can tell. So don't try to bullshit your way outta this, or you're gonna be in a real shi-"

"He's dead, sir," said Brock, looking down.

The man's facial expression softened ever so slightly, and then he looked back to the helicopter, before sighing, and turning back to the group.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have clearance to take you in here, so I'm gonna have to ask you to-"

Then, Katya stepped up, and began to accost the man.

"I am Katya, and I was the administrator for Weyland-Yutani, the company present on this island," she said, "and I have proof of the scandalous activities that were engaged by Weyland-Yutani, and specifically, Mister Karl Bishop Weyland."

The man's eyes widened, and said, "So…you're the one who…? Alright, get in the Chopper. . We're getting outta here, but you're gonna have a LOT of explainin' to do after we get back to base."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Misty squealed, and embraced the man, who looked around nervously, before finally being relieved of the awkward moment when Misty let go and hopped into the Helicopter. Brock followed her, but the man stopped him and took his gun. Brock, who had depended and stayed close to the gun like it was his mother, was a bit reluctant to give it up, but obliged. Katya walked herself into the chopper, and sat down next to Misty and Brock. The soldier turned to Ash.

"What's his problem?" he asked. Misty, Brock, and Katya looked at Ash in the distance. They began to yell at him.

"Ash! Get over here!" Misty yelled.

"Yeah, Ash, come on!"

"Hey, kid! Get to the chopper!"

"Ash, please come here!" Katya also yelled, not getting up from her seat.

Ash, however, was only brought to the attention of the Helicopter when Pikachu began to tug on his pants leg worriedly.

"Pika pika?" he said, looking up at Ash. Ash looked back down, then at the helicopter. His friends were waiting for him, and he looked back down to smile at Pikachu.

"Come on, buddy," he said, picking up his Pokemon friend, "let's go home."

With that, Ash began to walk towards the chopper. Pikachu snuggled comfortable close to his trainer, a smile on his furry face. As Ash walked up to the soldier, the man extended his hand to Ash, telling him, "Gimme your gun."

Ash handed it to the man without hesitation, and stepped onto the helicopter. The soldier followed him, and went inside.

"Alright, take us back to base," said the soldier. The pilot wordlessly confirmed hearing the command, and started up the helicopter engine. He throttled up, and the helicopter began to rise up into the air. Wind was maneuvered and manipulated by the propeller blades, so that the force of the winds pushed the metal machine into the sky. The trees waved beneath the raw force of the generated wind, and the helicopter took off into the sky. The island got smaller and smaller, turning from a detailed landscape that hid deadly secrets into a green piece of land surrounded by a thin strip of white sandy beaches. The colony and the Research Lab were barely noticeable in the distance; it could have easily gone unnoticed if they had not known what to look for and where to look for it. Ash looked back at the island, and then back around to the friendly faces around him.

Then, he began to laugh. His laughter turned louder and louder, until he was almost doubled over with laughter. Those around him looked at him quizzically.

"Ash, what's so funny?" Misty asked.

"Did I miss a joke?" Brock asked.

"We did it! We did it! I can't believe we did it!" Ash exclaimed, wiping a mirthful tear from his eye. "We survived that _deathtrap_ of an island, we survived being sunk in that storm, we survived meeting Jack, we survived the xeno ambush, we survived the jungles and the refinery, we survived the hunters, we survived Weyland's combat androids…we survived everything! Us, just a couple of kids, surviving an island full of things that wanted to kill us!"

Misty, Brock, Katya, and even Pikachu smiled softly in agreement; they were all happy that this was all finally over.

"But," Ash said, "It was mostly because of Jack…"

"Jack? You know him?" the soldier's voice from before chimed in.

Ash nodded towards him. "Yeah, he's the one that allowed us to survive as long as we did on the island. He's…. he _was,_ our friend."

"Oh," the soldier said. "so he's dead? Damn…he was a good guy. He was a great shot. Handy with a knife, too."

"Yeah," Ash said, remembering Jack killing an alien with his knife, "he was good."

"Well of course he is! He's a marine! Haven't you heard the song? The streets of heaven are guarded by marines, and Jack could do that down here too."

Then, they heard a very distinguishable, loud, popping sound.

"Woah, what the hell!" shouted the pilot of the helicopter. Ash turned his head, and shielded his eyes from the white-hot explosion that was in the island, or rather, _was_ the island. The entire island was lit up like a candle on Christmas Eve, and the heat could be felt from several thousand yards away. He could barely see the island from this distance, but the light from the explosion was like a beacon to him, showing him exactly where the island was. Then, the entire helicopter began to shake violently. Everyone cried in surprise, and hung onto a sold object. They all began to scream when the helicopter began to recklessly out of control. The view outside became blurred, switching between the ocean and the sky, with the explosion still visible every interval.

"Get this bird in control!" shouted the soldier.

"Ugh, I'm trying," shouted back the pilot, who was struggling with the controls. "But that shockwave's really powerful! Hang onto something!"

Ash knew that if they crashed now, they'd all die, falling into the ocean, far away from any land whatsoever. The helicopter was making warning beeping sounds inside the cockpit, and they were all bathed in an eerie red light. Finally, the Pilot grunted in triumph, and the helicopter leveled out. They regained elevation, and the helicopter was still. The pilot leaned back into his seat, relieved. The rest of the passengers did the same, all exhaling with relief.

"Phew, that was a close one, folks," said the pilot.

"What the hell was that? Did HQ verify an airstrike on the island?" said the soldier, readjusting himself on the seat.

"Hell, I don't know. I guess we're just lucky to still be alive; the shockwave almost flipped us into a 90 degree angle!" said the pilot.

Ash looked back to the island, which was now invisible, having disappeared completely behind the horizon. What had triggered such a powerful explosion? He could only imagine.

…

"Mister Weyland, sir?" a combat android walked up to the man himself in question. Weyland turned to face the android.

"Yes, what is it?"

"They've escaped, sir."

"…What? What do you mean escape?"

"Escape. Verb, used with object: to slip away from pursuit or peril; avoid capture, punishment, or any threatened evil."

"I _know_ what 'escape' means, you idiot, how did they get away?" he asked.

"They evaded capture when our strike team near the beachhead was wiped out by xenomorphs. The commanding officer, Tony Baxter, was killed in action."

Weyland growled in frustration, and slammed his fist on the table next to him. "I was told that these combat androids were the best force we had! How did they get killed by the xenomorphs? I bought them just for that reason!"

"I am not responsible for the outcome of any engagement used with other combat androids, sir."

Weyland gave him a scornful look, and clenched his hands into fists, so that under his gloves, his knuckled almost turned white. He growled again, and slammed another fist into the table, the metal furniture almost bending with the force he put behind the fist. A small dent was left where the fist made contact with the table the second time. He looked back at the combat android, and told him, "Get the transport airship ready for liftoff; we're getting out of here."

The droid said, "Yes commander," and he turned to leave. Weyland turned, and sat down on a chair. He rubbed his temples with his fingers subconsciously. After all his plights, all his work, all his bribery and death threats and blackmail, he was still going to get ratted out. By a couple of kids, nonetheless! He sighed, and looked to his side, at the sarcophagus at the end of the room. He stood up, and walked towards it. It was an admirable piece of art and craftsmanship, really. It was very large, much too large to fit a normal human body inside of it. No, this sarcophagus held a very important person. He was the same species of the hunters that visited humans in ancient times, the ones that made this temple in tribute to them, with their aid. It was one of the things that made this temple itself priceless, full of undiscovered knowledge. One thing that still puzzled him about the sarcophagus was the little section on the sarcophagus that looked as if something should be placed there. If only he could stay here just a bit longer…

Weyland heard the sound of gunfire resonating throughout the pyramid's hallways, and the sounds of screaming. He looked around, and hid behind one of the large statues of the kneeling hunters that lined either side of the walkway to the sarcophagus. He moved his hand to the handgun at his hip, and grabbed it, undoing the safety. The sounds of conflict grew louder, and he could hear the droids yelling out orders, and pointing out the location of, if his ears weren't deceiving him, one hostile. What one man could cause so much trouble and still be alive? He had to wonder. Then, the sounds of fighting died with the sound of a combat android's pained yell. All was eerily silent for the time being. Weyland looked at the sole entrance to his room, looking, listening for any telltale sign of someone coming in.

Just then, there was a strange, animalistic clicking noise. It didn't sound at all like a xenomorph, they would hiss or snarl, not make clicking noises. He focused on the doorway some more, and finally managed to make out a distorted, humanoid figure there. It was nearly invisible, he was barely close enough to be able to see the distortion in the air. Then, whatever cloaking the figure had dissipated, and the humanoid figure became visible. Weyland almost gasped at what he saw: it was one of the Hunters. What was it doing here?

…

The Predator looked around, trying to see if he could find any more of those infernal synthetics. They had put up a valiant fight, but ultimately fell to his blades. For synthetics, they were a nice challenge, but not nearly as good as the organics, who would naturally act more unpredictable. These synthetics, they would always do the same things when faced with a situation. This made it easier to dispatch of them, knowing how they would react, and thus, how he was able to so easily bypass the security. There were no more androids, as far as he could see, and his eyes laid upon the sarcophagus at the end of the room, the objective of his mission. He could finally finish what the had come to do. The humans had finally discovered the buried pyramid, and now they were going to raid it and release the xenomorphs. Now, it was his time to set the Pyramid to self-destruct.

He walked forwards, walking up to the sarcophagus. He looked it over, admiring the artistically-crafted receptacle, the one the humans had made for them in ancient times. It was such a shame that this planet's occupants would no longer worship them as gods, like in the olden times. He trailed his hand along the sarcophagus, feeling the ancient thing, and began to work on setting it to explode. However, a spine-chilling hiss made him stop in his tracks. He whirled around, only to see the Predalien drop down from the wall he was climbing. The Predalien raised its domed head, still scarred from their last encounter. The Predator growled, and turned to fully face his opponent, before pulling out his combi stick. This ends here, and now.

The Predator was first to move, charging at the alien, its spear raised in anticipation of a thrust. The predalien roared, and pounced at the Predator. The Predator rolled out of the way, and turned to face the Predalien, only to be slashed at by the Predalien. He jumped backwards, and began to walk backwards once he was back on the floor. The Predalien charged at him, and he threw the spear. The Predalien got hit in the shoulder by the spear, which kept traveling after going through the creature's flesh, embedding itself into the wall. The Predalien lashed out at him on two legs, and the Predator unsheathed his wrist blades. He slashed with his right hand, hitting the Predalien on the side of its head, and the Predalien retaliated with a tongue-attack, which was avoided. A left-hand slash followed, hitting the Predalien on its right side, and it headbutt the Predator with its massive head. The Predator staggered from the hit, and the Predalien grabbed him.

It hoisted him up, and growled at him. The Predator kicked it in its face, forcing it to drop him. The Predator went forwards with a wrist-blade thrust, but the Predalien avoided it. It slashed at him with its claw, which raked across the Predator's back. He growled and spun around, his wrist blades raised high. The wrist blades cut across the Predalien's face, creating a long, jagged, bloody line. Yellow-green blood oozed out of the wound, and dripped onto the stone floor, which sizzled at its touch. The sounds of their conflict echoed throughout the stony walls, as blade met chitin and claw met flesh. A swift tail thrust was avoided by a well-timed jump, and the following spear stab was countered with another swing of the tail, knocking the Predator out of the air. The Predator crashed into the floor, and slid a bit before finally coming to rest a few feet away. The Predalien began advancing upon the Predator, its fangs bared in anticipation of biting down on Yautja flesh, when a loud crashing sound was heard. The Predalien was homentarily distracted, and turned its head to see Weyland over a small table, having knocked over the coffee cup.

The alien snarled, and Weyland pulled his pistol from out of his pocket. The Predalien decided to quickly kill this nuisance before it became a problem. It charged, and Weyland fired off his pistol rounds at it, which harmlessly bounced off its thick hide. Weyland's eyes widened, and he dove out of the way, nearly avoiding a colliision with that creature. He got up, and began running, running towards the weapons rack in the corner of the room. The Predalien turned and began to chase him, but was quickly tackled to the floor by the Predator. It pulled out the combo stick, and raised it up high, before stabbing the alien through the stomach with it. The predalien roared in pain, and began to thrash around wildly. Its tail began to spin and twist erratically, flailing around like a medieval weapon, before it became still. The Predator didn't even bother to pull out the weapon, and instead, turned to see Weyland with a shotgun. Weyland fired the shotgun, the 12-gauge slugs making a bloody green hole in the Predator's abdominal area. He roared in pain, and activated his Plasma Caster. He locked onto Weyland, and fired. Weyland moved out of the way, but just barely. He ran to cover, behind one of the statues, and popped his gun out to take a shot at the Predator. The Predator went around, and confronted Weyland head-on.

He threw a smart disc at Weyland, and the disc cut right through the man's waist area. Weyland screamed in pain, and white, liquid latex lubricants began to pour out of the large gaping wound. The alien metal easily slashed through the human-made metal plates, almost cleaving Weyland in half. Weyland, after having been cut with the disc, had dropped his shotgun. The Predator walked up to the android man, who looked up at the alien hunter. The Predator grabbed Weyland by his neck, and lifted him up, clear off the floor. The Predator then grabbed his lower body, and then pulled the man apart, ripping him into two halves, an upper and lower half. He threw the two pieces of the synthetic aside, and turned his attention to the sarcophagus. He walked over to it, and inspected it. There. On it's wrist gauntlet: the slot to place the self-destruct bomb. The Predator reached into its holders, and pulled out a rectangular-shaped device. It placed it into the slot, and the bomb began to glow. The bomb opened up, and the Predator began to type in some commands.

Just then, he felt unimaginable pain in his back, and heard a loud fleshy _spurt_ sound. He looked down, and saw a long, black, bladed tail sticking out of his stomach. The Predalien hissed, and threw him to one side. The Predator roared in pain, louder than any time before, and landed with a heavy _thud_. He got up on two weakened legs, and turned to face the Predalien once more. The alien snarled at the Predator, and grabbed the spear in its stomach. It pulled it out, and tossed it aside. It snarled again, and leaped at the hunter. The Predator jumped out of the way, and made a grab for the spear. He turned to face the Predalien, who was still at a distance. The bomb console was behind him, he had to finish the mission, and then he could finish the fight. He just needed to type one last command.

He readjusted his grip of the combistick, and threw it at the Predalien. The stick hit the alien's chest, and penetrated all the way through, sticking out the back. The predalien roared in pain, and staggered backwards. The Predator turned around, and reached for the console, but the Predalien grabbed onto his leg. The Predator tripped, and desperately reached out to the console, trying to press that last button. The Predalien dug its claws deep into the Predator's back, making more blood seep out. The Predator growled with determination. He was _not_ going to fail the Elders, even if he died in the end! And he would kill this abomination. Its mere existence was an affront to his ancestry, and he could not have that! The Predator lunged forwards one last time, and his claw hit the last button. The button glowed, and then the rest of the bomb did so too. Blue electric energy began to glow out of the eye holes on the figure that was carved onto the sarcophagus's mask was. The Predator turned around, even in the Predalien's grip, and stabbed its wrist blades into the Predalien's head. The Predalien shrieked, and stabbed the Predator through the chest with its tail. The Predator roared in pain, and they began to roll down the steps, still thrashing and roaring in pain as they did so.

Weyland steadied himself, and balanced his upper half with his hands against the floor. He looked up, and saw the sarcophagus glowing blue. His eyes widened, and he knew what was going to happen. He began to crawl forwards, trying to reach the sarcophagus before it blew, trying to see if he could call off the explosion, or take the bomb out of the bomb holder. He put his arms out, and reached for the floor in front of him. He grabbed, and pulled his body forwards. He reached forwards with one arm, this time, and grabbed again, before pulling himself up, and following up with his other arm. He got closer, and closer, and closer to the bomb. It was starting to beep more erratically, more quickly. He had to hurry up. The two creatures were still at it, trying to kill each other, even with their mortal wounds. Come on, left arm, now right, now left…his interiors trailed behind him as he crawled, leaving a trail of white lubricants behind in his wake. Just a little more, just a little further! His entire life's work could _not_ go to waste! He was finally at the sarcophagus. He felt around for the bomb holder, and finally felt the warm, rectangular device. He grabbed it, and pulled it, but it wouldn't budge. Grunting, he tried once more. Still, the device stayed attached to the sarcophagus. The bomb was getting even hotter, and the beeping was nearly a continuous sound. His eyes widened, and he pulled with both hands. The pained cries of both the Predator and the Predalien rang out at the same exact time.

Then the bomb exploded.

The entire Pyramid was engulfed in searing white and blue plasma. The Pyramid lit up like a candle on the globe, and a giant explosion followed. The entire island was enveloped in the bomb's radius, amplified by whatever plasma energies were stored inside the Pyramid over thousands of years ago. The blue plasma explosion spread outwards, dissolving anything too close to the epicenter of the explosion, and merely annihilating anything else. The explosion reached the caves, and they collapsed in on themselves, preventing any other living organic, whether by means of machine or manpower, to enter ever again, sealing shut the path to the Pyramids, and their bounty of knowledge and culture and history. The searing plasma also reached the Jungles, where all the foliage basically disintegrated at the intense heat. Aliens that were still lingering the caves or jungles didn't even have time to shriek in pain, before they were torn apart, and their existence was erased from the face of the planet. The explosion completely obliterated the Refinery and Colony, where the aliens held their outpost hives, and sent any of the vile serpents caught in its radius to Oblivion.

…

The helicopter landing pad was now in-sight. The helicopter flew lower, and lower, and went slower, until it came to a stop at the pad. There, the helicopter blades began to cease their spinning, and Ash and his friends stepped off the chopper. Misty outstretched her arms, and sighed with delight as she let her body absorb the sun's comforting rays. She shut her eyes, and simply appreciated what she still had. Brock hopped off, and did the same, looking around. Ash and PIkachu followed behind, looking around. They were at some sort of military base, with people walking around, everyone doing something else. Many of them sent strange looks their way, but said nothing. Then, the pilot and the other soldier stepped off the chopper, which was not stationary.

"Wait here," said the soldier, and he went over to a building a short distance away.

"What do you think he's gonna do?" Brock asked.

"I don't know," Misty said, "but I'm pretty sure that we're not out of this just yet."

"Do not worry," Katya said, "I have all my information with me, we shouldn't get into any legal problems. Well, not you anyway. I used to be part of Weyland-Yutani, and I may possibly be held partly accountable for their acts."

There was a pause.

"I may be in some trouble, but do not worry about me."

"What's going to happen to us after this, then?" Misty asked.

Just then, the soldier from before was seen walking out of the building, with two more people behind him. One of them was tall, and wore a brown hat with a rim going around his head, but the other, which was presumably the commander, was only slightly shorter, but had a large helmet over his head, which partly covered his eyes, and a frown on his face. They were walking towards them, quickly and briskly. Just like Jack, they had the air of killing men, men that were used to seeing death, and causing it.

"Well," Ash said, "I guess we're going to find out."

The men walked up to them, and stopped only a few feet away. The large-helmet soldier looked them over from under his helmet carefully, inspecting each one. The man next to him looked them over as well, but his gaze was not as intimidating as the commander's. A few moments passed without either party saying a word. It was broken moments later.

"So, you're the ones who were trapped on that island?" asked the presumed commander.

"Yes," said Ash, being bold enough to say something to the man.

"Who are you?" Brock asked.

"I am the commander of the force here," said the man, "and I advise you to shut up, and let _me_ ask the questions."

"So you blokes survived the island where Blue Eagle got wiped out?" asked the second man, sporting an English accent. "I could only imagine how you did it."

"I think that the questions would be best asked inside," said the commander. With that, he spun on his heel, and walked away, towards the same building.

…

"Okay, so how did you end up on the island?" asked the commander. Ash was sitting on a chair, alone, save for the commander and his assistant, in the room. The only thing present in the room were the chairs they were sitting on, a table between them, and a ceiling light hanging from above.

"We were going to Cinnabar island, and we went on a ferry ride. The ferry got caught in a storm, and we got ship-wrecked on the island."

"Hm, really?" the commander asked. "Then how, may I ask, did you have guns in your possession at the time of your extraction?"

"Jack gave them to us," Ash replied.

"Jack? Corporal Mundy? How did you get acquainted with him?" asked the commander.

"We met him on the island. He was hiding in a shelter, with no radio, no television, nothing. He took us in and helped us."

"_Really?_" the commander said. His tone showed that he didn't believe Ash's story much at all. Granted, a kid that has had no prior experience in killing, or using a gun, surviving an island full of structurally superior and hostile creatures is a very outlandish story indeed. But it was all true.

"But it's true! We got taken in by Jack, and from there, we went on and got a radio to get off the island."

"So whadda you know about the Weyland-Yutani company on the island?" asked the assistant.

"Well," Ash said, "We know that Weyland - Karl Bishop Weyland - was in charge of everything there. He wanted to control the aliens - I mean, xenomorphs - and use them. There were a Research Lab there that had a whole bunch of them. He was testing on them, and he might have been using live test subjects."

The assistant looked at his clipboard, and told the commander, "His story checks out, it matches with the files that lady gave us. He's clean."

The commander sighed, and looked back up to Ash.

"Alright," he said, "your story checks out. But you're still in possession of confidential military information, and we can't let anybody else know."

Ash's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

"It means we can't let'cha go," said the assistant. "We can't have you telling people that you killed xenomorphs on a far-off island. It's confidential, meant only for the higher-ups. "

"But I won't tell! I promise!" Ash pleaded.

"Promise? Look at that! He's expecting us to accept a promise! Hah!" said the commander. "Look, kid, we can't have you or your friends running around with this information in your heads, you just can't."

"But you can't keep us here either!"

"We can make ends meet…"

"Look," said Ash, "my experi - _our _experience," Ash corrected himself, "in the island was terrible. It was like a nightmare come to life! Now you tell me: why on earth would I want to tell people about all the things I had to do on that island to stay alive? Why would I want to tell them I had to kill so many things, see so many people die…why would I _want _to _remember that? _I might have nightmares about it later, when I go to sleep, it's already bothered me enough. If anything, I'd like to just forget about this whole thing, not tell people about it. I swear, mister Commander, I will just forget about it, and everything will be alright, okay?"

If Ash's words had a sway on the commander, then he did an excellent job of doing it. He just sat there, watching Ash. It was unnerving, being just stared at. Then, the commander sighed.

"Alright," he said. "I guess you're right. You're not a hardened soldier, you've probably been more affected by the things on that island than any other kind of person…Okay, you'r free to go. Just, please make sure this doesn't get out. People would panic, and it wouldn't end well for anyone."

Ash smiled, and eagerly nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"Okay, now get out of here. Go group with your friends; we'll let you stay for the day, and tomorrow morning, we'll take you to the nearest town. Okay?" the commander said.

"Yes, sir," said Ash, saluting him. The commander chuckled, and walked out. Ash began to walk out, but was stopped by the assistant.

"Boy, you said you met Jack, right?" he asked. Ash slowly nodded. The man then sighed, and said, "I'm guessing' he didn't make it, right?" Once again, Ash nodded.

"Why are you asking?" Ash asked.

"Because," the man said, his voice low, and sad, "I was his brother."

Ash got a clear look at the man's face when he took off his hat, and looked at him. He had brown hair, steely blue eyes, and a defined jawline, just like Jack. his uniform's name tag said "Julius". The resemblance was clearly visible, and it shocked Ash. He didn't know what to say, he just shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"He…he saved us. He sacrificed his life to make sure we got away safely…he's a good guy."

"Yeah, he sure was… I used to be in his squad, you know. I got changed at the last moment before the launch, and I was worried for him. I guess, things have to be this way…" Julius said. He began to walk away, and Ash suddenly remembered what Jack told him.

"Wait!" Ash yelled at him. The man turned around. Ash looked down at his pockets, and felt each one, looking for something. He finally felt a large bulge in one of his pockets, and put his hand inside. He grabbed its contents, and pulled it out. They were the dog tags from Jack's squad.

"Here…I want you to have this," Ash said. He placed the tags in Julius's open palm, and his hands closed around them. He looked at them carefully.

"There are the squad's dog tags. All my friends..."

Ash nodded slowly. Then, he reached into another pocket, and pulled out Jack's dog tag.

"Here, this is Jack's dog tag," said Ash, reaching forwards to give Jack's brother his dog tags. Julius accepted the tags, and looked at them. After a moment of observing them, he sighed.

"No," said the man. "I'd like you to have it."

He extended the hand with Jack's dog tag towards Ash, who grabbed it, while looking at Jack's brother incredulously.

"What? No, you take it," Ash insisted, giving them back to Julius, who didn't take it back.

"No, I insist. I don't need them. We were close, real close. He was a great brother, and a great friend. We've had lots'a good memories together, and I loved him like the brother he was. I don't need anything to remember him by, but you…he's also special to you, isn't he? He saved your hide a few times, I bet."

Ash nodded in agreement. "Well then, I think that those tags would serve you more than they would me."

Julius stepped in closer, and kneeled down to Ash's level. "Just make sure you take care of those tags, alright?" Ash nodded in affirmation. Julius then stood up straight, and then turned to walk away.

Ash looked down at the tags in his hands. It had different information about him, such as his name and unit. Ash passed his thumb along it carefully, feeling the carved-out letters. It brought back memories of the island, painful memories, but also the nicer ones, like their little heart-to-heart in the Research Lab. Julius trusted him with his own brother's dog tags, which made Ash very prideful of himself. He looked down at the dog tags once more, and put them into his pocket. He turned, and then walked out, to where his friends were, and to where he could continue his life from where he left off. But now, he had an advantage: he was wiser, quicker, smarter. His time in the island changed him, probably both for better and for worse, but he knew that now, he'd be seeing things differently: life, friends, and family. He stepped out into the sunshine, the rays of the sun comfortably sunning his skin. He felt so happy right now, almost euphoric. He had all the time in the world, and he could do almost anything he wanted, if he just put his mind to it. He was going to start doing things as soon as possible.

The first thing he was going to do? Go get a Hamburger to eat.

**Yes! It's finally done! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the end of the story, and with it, my first completed story! *confetti and streamer fall from the ceiling* I hope you did enjoy this! I put a lot of effort into this story, and I am proud of myself! Remember, please leave a review to tell me if you liked it! Any and all review are appreciated, they make my days so much happier! **


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